Your dad's favorite baseball player

[Houston]

Based on the recent discussion here about teaching kids the game's history and pointing out great players, it made me think about my own childhood with my dad. His favorite player was Bob Watson and mine was Cesar Cedeno.

Here's the question: Who was your dad's favorite player when you were a kid and was that player also your favorite or did you choose someone else just because you could?

[Duman]

My dad's favorite player was Ernie Banks.  He could get Chicago radio broadcast and there was no team in the Southeast.

My favorite player was Hank Aaron. Atl was just 90 miles and I fell asleep listening to Braves games on WJHO 1400 AM.

[farmstros]

my dad grew up a Reds fan in Dayton, Ohio.  I don't remember him having a favorite player.  My mom grew up an Indians fan near Youngstown.  I remember meeting Bob Feller at a mall in Houston, which she got more of a kick out of than me.  She also liked Larry Doby.  Here in Houston, my mom's favorite was Terry Puhl.  We saw his first or second game as an Astro at the Dome.  She always liked him after that, even though he was a Canadian.  Seems like one year we even brought him cookies or brownies for his birthday when you could actually meet the players after a game outside the Dome. 

[Uncle Charlie]

My dad's favorite was Roberto Clemente.  He grew up in the outskirts of Pittsburgh and his father actually went to Game 7 of the 1960 WS...I have his ticket and scored program.

Personally, I always was a huge Nolan Ryan fan.  I grew up in Spring and just like his hard nose, good ol boy attitude.

[subnuclear]

My dad's favorite player was Satchel Paige who he used to watch on the Miami Marlins as a kid.   Can do a good imitation of his pitching motion.   

I used to change my favorite Astro for many years, but my first favorite was Joe Morgan. 

[JimR]

Based on the recent discussion here about teaching kids the game's history and pointing out great players, it made me think about my own childhood with my dad. His favorite player was Bob Watson and mine was Cesar Cedeno.

Here's the question: Who was your dad's favorite player when you were a kid and was that player also your favorite or did you choose someone else just because you could?

my Dad's favorite team was Detroit because they tried to sign him out of HS. i do not think he ever mentioned having a favorite player.

[Waldo]

Mickey Mantle.

[BudGirl]

My dad's favorite was Ted Williams.  He always said the could see the seams on the ball.

[HudsonHawk]

My dad always said his favorite player was Whitey Ford, though Ford wasn't still playing when *I* was a kid.  I remember my dad being a big fan of Hank Aaron when I was young, as the Braves were "our" team, or at least that's who we got to hear on the radio.

My favorite player as a kid was Johnny Bench.

[Gizzmonic]

My dad's favorite player when I was a kid was Jose Cruz, who was also my favorite player (he used mimic the PA announcer saying "CRUUUUUZ" in the backyard when playing ball).  Although he says that when he was a kid, Roberto Clemente was his favorite player.

[austro]

My dad grew up in Iowa and western Illinois, so he grew up as a Cards fan. His favorite was Stan the Man.

[Taras Bulba]

The old man liked the Mick, so that meant I liked him, too despite Mantle being well over the hill by the time I started playing baseball.  I always liked Rader and then Ryan, before Biggio and Bagwell came along.  Though they were rivals, I admired a lot of the players on the Reds during the Big Red Machine days, particularly Johnny Bench.

My mom liked Walt Dropo who played for the Birmingham Barons (she was an Alabama girl).  I think she probably had a crush on him.  Jason Lane and Morgan Ensberg irritated the living shit out of her.  I would throw gasoline on that by calling her after they had a horrible at bat to ask her if she was still sweet on them--boy, would that set her off.

[Bench]

Hank Aaron was my dad's favorite player to watch. 

[hostros7]

My dad's favorite was Ted Williams.  He always said the could see the seams on the ball.

Same with my dad.  Or the stories about how he could tell if the pitching mound was too low or high.  Feats of visionary strength basically.

[VirtualBob]

Paul Waner

His [my dad's] older cousin used to get him into the right field bleachers at Forbes Field several times a year during the depression.

As a result of the Pittsburgh connection (and intensive study of the backs of baseball cards) my favorite players included Elroy Face and Bill Mazeroski.  My personal Detroit connection added Al Kaline, Jim Bunning and Yankee-killer Hank Aguirre.

edited to remove ambiguity

[Noe]

My dad's favorite player when he was a kid was Epitacio “La Mala” Torres of the Sultanes de Monterrey, Nuevo Leon (Hall of Fame outfielder in Mexico).  Epitacio had a son who came to America to play baseball and as luck would have it he was traded to the new NL team, the Houston Astros.  His name was Epitacio Hector Torres (nicknamed "La Malita" as a kid).  Hector Torres was the reason my dad took me at a very young age to go see the new team their first year at the dome.  He would tell me stories of "La Mala" while yelling at "La Malita" to play better than he was at short stop.

Overall though, my dad loved Mickey Mantle and loved being called Mickey by his old friends (some he played semi-pro ball with).  My brother was named Miguel when he was born (after my dad's middle name), but from day one my dad would call him "Mickey"!  I still call him that to this day, even as old as we are.

[Señor Stan]

My Dad's favorite position player was Craig Reynolds.  His favorite pitcher was Nolan Ryan.  He had a tendancy to more root for guys from the area.  I don't know which of the two he would have considered his favorite.  Anybody from Pennsylvania (his home state) or Texas was money in his book.


I picked Terry Puhl as my "guy" as a kid in the late 70s.  After a few seasons of hanging out by the home team's dugout, I was finally able to get his autograph as an 11 year old on my overly oiled glove.  (Which he pointed out.)  I only had a ball point pen at the time and the sig was really hard to see.  I then, in my pre-adolescent wisdom, tried to trace over the autograph in marker so I could see it better.

Unfortunately, I pulled a Fredia and wrote P-u-l-h...

D'OH!

[Outlawscotty]

My dad's was the Mick; mine was Biggio.  I let him know whenever 'mine' passed 'his' in the history books.

[Mr. Happy]

Stan Musial and Whitey Ford. My favorite was the Wrangler.

[JaneDoe]

My dad was a football man.  My favorite growing up was Jose Cruz.

[PSR]

My Dad's favorite player was Joe DiMaggio.

He always said that watching Joe D play was like watching Gretzky play hockey or watching Jordan play basketball -- even if you were from another planet and didn't know anything about the game, you could tell he was great just by seeing how he played.

As a kid, my favorite Astro was Cesar Cedeno.

[MusicMan]

Mickey Mantle.

Ditto.  And he became the first player whose biography ("The Mick") I ever read.  And thus I learned that reading biographies of players you idolize may not be a good idea.

[Bench]

And thus I learned that reading biographies of players you idolize may not be a good idea.

You should read Clemente by David Maraniss for the opposite proposition.

[Taras Bulba]

My Dad's favorite player was Joe DiMaggio.

He always said that watching Joe D play was like watching Gretzky play hockey or watching Jordan play basketball -- even if you were from another planet and didn't know anything about the game, you could tell he was great just by seeing how he played.

As a kid, my favorite Astro was Cesar Cedeno.

No idea if he had an arm, but I always thought what a great shortstop Fred Astaire would have made. 

[Duman]

The old man liked the Mick, so that meant I liked him, too despite Mantle being well over the hill by the time I started playing baseball.  I always liked Rader and then Ryan, before Biggio and Bagwell came along.  Though they were rivals, I admired a lot of the players on the Reds during the Big Red Machine days, particularly Johnny Bench.

My mom liked Walt Dropo who played for the Birmingham Barons (she was an Alabama girl).  I think she probably had a crush on him.  Jason Lane and Morgan Ensberg irritated the living shit out of her.  I would throw gasoline on that by calling her after they had a horrible at bat to ask her if she was still sweet on them--boy, would that set her off.

Old timers in Bham say Walt Dropo hit a home run over the concrete wall in center at Rickwood Field that was close to 500'

[Taras Bulba]

Great pic!

[strosrays]

I think Charlie Gehringer was my father's favorite player, at least I remember him mentioning him a lot.  My father was a Tigers fan because they had a AA affiliate in his town when he was a kid. 

Back when I was catching (LL mostly) he would sometimes tell me, "Good play.  You are looking almost as good as ol' Gus Mancuso."  And I'd be sitting there thinking, who the fuck is Gus Mancuso?  I think he did it just to get a rise out of me.

My favorite players growing up were Bobby Bonds and George Hendrick.

[Ron Brand]

My dad's favorite player was Ted Williams, so he was always very special to me.  Missed meeting him at his museum by a few hours...dammit!

For no good reason at all, my favorite player was Al Kaline. Great player, but nowhere close to Austin, Tx and definitely only seen on tv once or twice a year back then, unless it was 1968 or so.

[strosrays]

My dad's favorite player was Ted Williams, so he was always very special to me.  Missed meeting him at his museum by a few hours...dammit!

For no good reason at all, my favorite player was Al Kaline. Great player, but nowhere close to Austin, Tx and definitely only seen on tv once or twice a year back then, unless it was 1968 or so.

Kaline was a terrific player, but one of those guys who was so efficient he never really did anything spectacular, and people overlooked him.  He was an excellent hitter, but I think my favorite thing was his defense.  He didn't have a rocket arm, but it seemed like he always timed his catches perfectly, so he had full momentum for his throw back to the infield when he caught the ball.  He was deadly accurate, too.

It's too bad some people only remember him for an errant throw in the 1972 ALCS vs. Oakland.

[VirtualBob]

... my favorite player was Al Kaline. Great player, ...

Excellent choice.  Even as a kid I could tell how well he covered center in old Briggs Stadium.  And at 408 to straight-away, there was a lot of ground to cover!

[Ron Brand]

It's too bad some people only remember him for an errant throw in the 1972 ALCS vs. Oakland.

Or 1973, when he was spending time at 1B due to injury. I think I still have all his cards from 1957 on. 

[JimR]

Paul Waner

His [my dad's] older cousin used to get him into the right field bleachers at Forbes Field several times a year during the depression.

As a result of the Pittsburgh connection (and intensive study of the backs of baseball cards) my favorite players included Elroy Face and Bill Mazeroski.  My personal Detroit connection added Al Kaline, Jim Bunning and Yankee-killer Hank Aguirre.

edited to remove ambiguity

i had several favorite players as the years rolled by, but my all-time favorite is Koufax. one of my earliest favorites was Face. i followed his 18-1 season closely and started liking the Pirates as "my" team. 1960 was a wonderful baseball year for me.

[Wild Dog]

My Dad's favorite player was his father who pitched for a semi-pro team in central Texas.  He never mentioned his favorite MLB player.  He took me to minor league games in San Antonio (the Bullets) and had me watch their little second baseman, Joe Morgan.  "You can tell by the way he carries himself that he's going to be a great player".  He also liked Biggio.  Seemed to like the little guys.

[Ron Brand]

Seemed to like the little guys.

A special shout out to Fred Patek, Albie Pearson and Eddie Gaedel.

[Wild Dog]

A special shout out to Fred Patek, Albie Pearson and Eddie Gaedel.

Freddy Patek from Seguin TX.  One of the most amazing notes of baseball trivia concerns Patek.  Wanna venture a guess?

[believin]

My dad's is Willie Mays.  My grandpa's is DiMaggio and Koufax.
My mom's is Craig Biggio (she says "he got the most out of his ability of anybody I've ever seen").
Mine are Nolan Ryan, Jeff Bagwell, and Craig Biggio.

My 9-year-old nephew's is also Craig Biggio.

[Houston]

Freddy Patek from Seguin TX.  One of the most amazing notes of baseball trivia concerns Patek.  Wanna venture a guess?

He's probably the shortest guy ever to hit 3 homers in a game.

[Sleepy]

Stan Musial growing up in the Midwest, Nolan when I was growing up in Houston.

[Wild Dog]

He's probably the shortest guy ever to hit 3 homers in a game.

The first AL SS to ever hit 3 HR's in a game.  How bizarre is that?  Lou Boudreau, Joe Cronin, Dick McAuliffe, Rico Petrocelli...hell Frank Crosetti, Tom Tresh or Ron Hansen would come to mind, but not Freddie Patek who never hit more than 6 in any season.  I wonder if they checked his bat?

[JimR]

Trivia answer: I struck him out in a 4th of July game in Seguin. He was in between the Army and a Pirates farm club.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

Trivia answer: I struck him out in a 4th of July game in Seguin. He was in between the Army and a Pirates farm club.

Dammit Jim, you beat me to it.

[Col. Sphinx Drummond]

My dad is a sports fan but not really a baseball fan in the sense that he would have had a favorite player. He obsessed about fishing. He had a favorite lures.

Mine was Jimmy Wynn, then Cesar Cedeno, then Nolan Ryan, then Thon briefly, then Ryan again, then Biggio, now Oswalt.

[Ebby Calvin]

My dad is a sports fan but not really a baseball fan in the sense that he would have had a favorite player. He obsessed about fishing. He had a favorite lures.

Exact same scenario for me (the fishing part), except that my father grew up a Cardinals fan in central Missouri.
Growing up I always liked Glenn Davis, Dickie Thon, Kevin Bass and Bagwell.  Once the old man decided it was time to root for the Astros, he eschewed Willie McGee and Vince Coleman for Garner.  Scrap Iron's still his favorite Astro.

[Andyzipp]

My Dad's favorite players were Bill Mazeroski and Vinegar Bend Mizell (which is maybe the best name ever.)

My grandpa's favorite player was Virgil Trucks.  He and his brothers used to own a bar very close to old Tiger Stadium and the players would come in frequently.  Grandpa liked him because he could hold his liquor and was from the south, not necessarily in that order.

Mine was Jose Cruz as a wee lad, Pete Harnisch for a short period and Jeff Bagwell since then.

[VirtualBob]

My Dad's favorite players were Bill Mazeroski and Vinegar Bend Mizell (which is maybe the best name ever.)

My grandpa's favorite player was Virgil Trucks.  He and his brothers used to own a bar very close to old Tiger Stadium and the players would come in frequently.  Grandpa liked him because he could hold his liquor and was from the south, not necessarily in that order.

Mine was Jose Cruz as a wee lad, Pete Harnisch for a short period and Jeff Bagwell since then.

I agree on the best name ever ... I almost mentioned him.

One small nit, though ... if it was your Grandpa, it was not Tiger stadium.  It was Briggs Stadium (after the owning Briggs family) until sometime in the mid-sixties.

[Uncle Charlie]

You should read Clemente by David Maraniss for the opposite proposition.

I have a large painting of a baseball player in my house.  At the time, I was between Clemente and Ryan (because they were my dad and my favs).  At the end of the day, I picked Clemente.  I do so because when my daughters asked about the man in the painting I wanted to be able to tell them about Clemente and his life.

The book is truely a great insight into a truely good guy.

[strosrays]

Trivia answer: I struck him out in a 4th of July game in Seguin. He was in between the Army and a Pirates farm club.

I saw him on the field once, in Arlington Stadium.  The program listed him at 5' 5" or 5' 6", but to me he looked closer to 5' 3".  Kudos for striking him out.

Even though he was a lead-off hitter a good deal of the time, Patek never walked all that much.  Had he concentrated on it, maybe adopted a Rickey Henderson-style crouch, he could've walked 150 times a season, I'd bet.

[Mr. Happy]

What'd you bring to Patek, Coach?

[Noe]

Forgot to mention my all-time favorites (I don't think I'll ever change):


As a kid, I loved watching Doug Rader
As a teen, Terry Puhl was my favorite
As an adult, Jeff Bagwell will never be replaced

[Bench]

Forgot to mention my all-time favorites (I don't think I'll ever change):


As a kid, I loved watching Doug Rader
As a teen, Terry Puhl was my favorite
As an adult, Jeff Bagwell will never be replaced

Billy Doran was my favorite as a kid.  Another personal favorite was Jeff Hamilton, who was the most thrilling player I ever saw when he was on the San Antonio Dodgers. 

[Reuben]

Billy Doran was my favorite as a kid.  Another personal favorite was Jeff Hamilton, who was the most thrilling player I ever saw when he was on the San Antonio Dodgers. 

Doran was my favorite as a kid, too- can't remember if I liked him because I played 2nd base in little league, or if I wanted to play 2nd because I liked Doran. And of course I was a big Mike Scott fan.

My dad didn't talk about a particular favorite much, though I believe as a kid growing up in NC, Richie Ashburn was his favorite somehow.

[Emo Oranges]

My dad really liked Otis Nixon, during that whole Braves early 90s run.  I always respected Terry Pendelton and his workman effort on that team.

[Uncle Charlie]

Billy Doran was my favorite as a kid.  Another personal favorite was Jeff Hamilton, who was the most thrilling player I ever saw when he was on the San Antonio Dodgers. 

The only foul ball I've ever caught at a professional game was off the bat of Billy Doran.  We were in the orange seats, first row, just up the right field line.  As you might have guessed, I started collecting his baseball cards after that.

[Bench]

The only foul ball I've ever caught at a professional game was off the bat of Billy Doran.  We were in the orange seats, first row, just up the right field line.  As you might have guessed, I started collecting his baseball cards after that.

Billy Doran was always a favorite in my family.  He enhanced his already good reputation mightily when he wandered over to the dugout during BP before Game 6 and handed my brother his cracked bat.   

[Wild Dog]

Mine was Jimmy Wynn, then Cesar Cedeno, then Nolan Ryan, then Thon briefly, then Ryan again, then Biggio, now Oswalt.

Mantle was my favorite, always will be.  Growing up I loved Jimmy Wynn.  Mickey was my god, Wynn my favorite .45/Astro.  Named my son after him.  His middle name is Wynn.

[dirty steve]

my dad's favorite was Rusty Staub. believe he was able to meet him on one occasion when working at the Dome.