14
2011
John Delcos: Thanks, Dad
An article by 
Good afternoon folks.
I don’t like going this long without posting for you, but have been away. I drove to Ohio Sunday to visit my father, but the visit was unfortunately extended for a funeral.
Everybody loves their father for their own reasons and I am no different. There are some I can’t share and others I do so openly and proudly.
The most important was his love for his family and the moral principles he lived by, but another was his love for baseball, which he gave to my brother, George, and myself.
Among my earliest and fondest is he coached both our Little League teams. It was here where I learned sportsmanship and Little League baseball is to learn the game and have fun.
His belief was if you showed up for practice you would play regardless of how good you were. The games were seven innings and everybody played at least three. If for some reason you didn’t play three, you automatically started the next game.
The emphasis was enjoyment of the sport, not winning, and definitely not learning at a young age one had limited talent. There would be plenty of time for that in high school sports. There would be plenty of opportunities for life to disappoint and he didn’t believe Little League baseball should be one of them.
Where our league’s boundaries ended at the town line, today there’s a Little League World Series that is not only televised, but extends to foreign shores.
We went for ice cream after the games, win or lose. I grew up and played at a time when there were not even sponsors from local businesses, let alone corporate advertisers and television commercials. It was a time when the game had its natural disappointments, like committing an error or striking out and ten year-old kids don’t need cameras stuck in their faces.
It was a simpler time, one when I wasn’t exposed to the more negative and disturbing aspects of sports.
It is almost cliché to mention it, but the best times were playing catch and him hitting me grounders and fly balls in the front yard. We never shot baskets or tossed a football. It was always baseball.
Growing up, there was no such thing as cable and we only had four channels. We’d sometimes watch “The Game of the Week’’ and almost always the Indians.
Those were bad Indians teams that featured Rocky Colavito, Sam McDowell, Sonny Siebert and Max Alvis. I remember the first game he took me to, won, 5-0, over the Orioles. Years later, when I covered the Orioles, they had every box score in franchise history so I copied that game’s and sent it to him.
My dad took me to a lot of games at old Cleveland Stadium, and when I briefly covered the Indians for a small local paper after college, I was glad when I got to take him.
One of the best perks of the job was getting to take him to spring training and buy him World Series tickets when the Indians finally made it. Too bad he never got to see them win it all. Would have been nice.
My dad grew up a Brooklyn Dodgers fan, and when I covered the Orioles, former Dodgers pitcher Rex Barney was the PA announcer and I brought him up to the press box after a game to introduce them. When I came back to the press box nearly an hour later after working the clubhouse, I was happy to see Barney still talking to him.
The Dodgers were his team and he told me about Ebbets Field and Gil Hodges, Jackie Robinson and Carl Furillo. Our family has roots in New York and New Jersey and we’d visit every summer after Little League season and he’d take me to Yankee and Shea Stadiums.
One year, he insisted we see the Mets against the Dodgers to watch this guy pitch. During my first spring covering the Mets, I got to meet the pitcher. I introduced myself and told him I didn’t want to interview him – although I did – as much as I wanted to tell him how my father thought it was important I see him pitch.
Then Sandy Koufax asked me what game it was and when I sheepishly told him the Mets ripped him, 10-4, he said he remembered.
Like all fathers and sons, we had our rocky moments, but whatever they were, we always were able to talk about baseball. And, many of our later conversations were about baseball and the Indians.
My dad was 85 and was ill on and off for his last ten years. He was a shut-in and derived much of his pleasure watching the Indians and baseball, often with my sister, Anne.
Baseball was a passion and there are millions like him who feel the same way he did about the sport. This is something I wish the owners of the sport realized about its fans; that people love and cherish the traditions and simplicity of the game. I wish they understood this before they tinker and attempt to change the sport.
My dad taught me a lot of things, but I will always be grateful to him for giving me his love and appreciation of baseball.
I will forever love and miss him, and sure I will never watch another baseball game the same way.
Thanks, Dad.
About the Author: John Delcos
I am an active member of the BBWAA and have covered Major League Baseball in several capacities for over 20 years, including ten in New York working the Mets' and Yankees' beat. I covered the Baltimore Orioles for eight years and the Cleveland Indians before that. I currently serve as an editor and senior staff writer for Mets Merized Online. Follow me on Twitter @jdelcos.
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My deepest condolences John. I know all too well the loss your going through.
You have my condolences ! ! I miss my father also…..It never gets easier but the love keeps growing ! Your his legacy !
Sorry for your loss John
Very sorry to read about your loss.
Sounds like a great guy John. Wish you the best.
Your father did a wonderful job raising you. It is shown with your eloquent tribute to him. Deepest sympathies and condolences.
My deepest condolences to you and your family.
God Bless your family and my your father rest in peace.
You and your family are truly blessed.
I am sure he took great pleasure in teaching you. God bless him. My condolences
Deepest sympathies. When a man loses his father, he loses a whole world. Just remember, he goes on living through you.
I am so sorry for your loss John, prayers go out to you!
Thank you for the story John. Prayers for you and your family. You will miss him – but over time you will feel him in your heart.
My condolences John. I’d like to thank you for sharing those fond memories with us.
Sorry for your loss, John.
Sincere sympathy for you and your family.
If you feel his presence inside of you, be assured it is not wishful thinking but indeed your dad letting you know he is OK and will be always be watching you.
So sorry for your loss John.May he rest in peace.Great story! My Father and I have a similar bond with baseball.It doesn’t matter if it’s Thanksgiving or X-Mas dinner,my dad and I will be talking about the Mets.
John, God bless your father. I ‘m sorry for you and your family’s loss…Just remember, he’ll always be alive, if you keep him so in your heart and memory.
Best wishes to you and your family John, during these tough times.
John–My deepest sympnathy go out to you and your family. I know very well what you’re dealing with, losing my dad this previuous March. Like your father, mine was also a Brooklyn fan. Many things you touched on here were the same with me and my dad.
He taught me to respect the game, root for the Mets (no matter how good or bad), to always ‘believe’ and to never boo them.
When you mentioned:
I will never watch another baseball game the same way
Sadly this is true. This was my first season without my dad and it was very tough. Something would happen or I’d hear some cool trivial fact and make a mental note to stump him with a trivia question. Even as recently as Reyes signing with Miami, for a fleeting second, I walked to the phone to call him and share the bad news.
God Bless…
John, As told by your story, your father was a great man. His legacy is the life you and his other children live. You touched me deeply with your love for your dad. My father has already passed on, but you’ve helped me remember another good dad. Thank you.
All my sympathies to you and your family John. He will always live inside you and you honor him and him and his memory with your writing.
Joe
Hang in there John, my deepest sympathy.
So sorry to hear about your loss, John! I was quite moved by your tribute to your dad. I lost my dad more than 40 years ago, and still miss him. He and I also were Brooklyn Dodger fans, and as a boy I cheered Jackie, Pee Wee, Skoonj, the Duke, Campy, Big Newk (fortunately, not like Big Pelf!), Gil, Carl, and the rest—along with my dad.
Peace, John.
My condolences.
I also remember my dad taking the three of us kids to Shea and sometimes to Yankee stadium.
When he retired to Florida, my mother use to say he is still a New Yorker and he would watch the Marlins’ game with a Marlin T shirt and a Yankee cap.
The last conversation I had with my Dad was two days before he died and the topic was who would win the World Series.
The memories will always be there.Thanks for the beautiful tribute.
Take care, Carol
My condolences to you and your family, John.
A very well written and poignant article. Thank you for sharing that with us and we all share your pain. It is something we all have to go through in life and, with all the different opinions that get expressed here, we can all be unanimous on this with sympathy and understanding. With time comes peace and a sense of perspective that unfies life experience to the loved ones you have lost. Best wishes.
Very sorry to hear of your Loss John, I went through the same thing about 6 years ago so I know how hard that is!
JOHN, AS I JOIN THE MANY EXPRESSING THEIR CONDOLENCES OF A SHARED SADDENING EXPERIENCE, I CAN RECALL HAVING JUST ATTENDED MY DAD’S FUNERAL ON OPENNING DAY,1985, AND MY MOM’S SUGGESTION THAT MY DAD WOULD WANT US TO TURN THE GAME ON AS IT WAS CARTER’S DEBUT AS A MET, AN ACQUISITION HE’D APPLAUDED THAT WAS CONFIRMED BY THE DRAMATIC GAME WINNING DINGER LEAVING MY SISTER & I LOOKING UPWARD TO SAY THANKS, DAD.
JOHN, THAT WAS 27 SEASONS AGO AND I’VE SHARED EACH AND EVERY ONE WITH HIM, JUST AS I DO EVERY ROUND OF GOLF SINCE.
OUR FATHER’S GREATEST GIFT TO US IS OUR RECOLLECTIONS OF US WITH THEM. MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU & YOUR FAMILY DURING THIS DIFFICULT HOLIDAY SEASON.
Very sorry to hear of your loss.
Wonderful tribute to your Dad.