June 30 - we have another Bio - this one is a great read. Dave Roberts - not that Dave Roberts but the other Dave Roberts - was born on this date in 1933. While his Major League career will not impress you very much but his whole story may. This Dave Roberts was born in Panama in 1933. He played amateur baseball as a teenager in Panama. The great Negro League pitcher, Chet Brewer saw him playing there in 1952 and brought him along to an independent minor league in the U.S. Roberts played Winter Ball and in the Minor Leagues in the U.S. In 1962 he had a short stint with the Astros. In 1964 he spent nearly half the season with Houston. He was with Pittsburgh for a couple of weeks in 1966. All the time moving up and down between the big club and the minor league affiliates and playing winter ball. In 1967 Dave began a new phase in his baseball Odyssey. He signed on to play baseball in Japan. Before he hung up his cleats for good he had spent 22 years in pro ball all around the world. His book is a real fun read because it recounts his story and is full of his contact with players and places you may or may not have heard of. Some of you may be aware of his co-author, Tony Salin. His book Baseballs Forgotten Heroes is almost a cult classic. Not one of those books that comes up in discussions very often, it is still one of the best books of its type. Sadly Tony died way too young, 2001 - he was not yet 50. You can read more about him over on the Baseball Reliquary web site or search their Facebook page. Just one more note about A Baseball Odyssey If you try to find it you will choke when you see the price. I have mentioned wind falls or perhaps a better term is serendipity in previous posts. I found my copy (signed by Tony but not by David) in one of the HPB stores in Houston. They wanted more for it than I wanted to pay but after seeing it was signed by the author and after taking a glance at the contents I went ahead and plunked down what HPB requested. It is one of the reasons that when ever I am in doubt about purchasing a book I err on the side of exuberance and by the thing. I can always eat soup until next pay day.
Posted on: Mon, 30 Jun 2014 06:02:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015