Over the past several years there has been much debate over whether athletes are, should be or want to be role models to children.
Both sides of the discussion seem very set in their opinions. I had an experience as a boy that put me squarely on the side seeing them as role models — for better or worse.
It was the summer of 1947, when I was 12 years old and just starting to become a real fan of major league baseball and the Pirates. It was the year that Hank Greenberg joined the Pirates, who bought his contract from the Detroit Tigers.
One Sunday evening my parents took me and my two younger brothers to have dinner with my grandparents in Oakland at the Webster Hall Hotel. My grandparents lived there in a one-bedroom apartment. It was just a short walk from Forbes Field, so many of the baseball players congregated at the hotel.
The hotel happened to have a very good restaurant on the first floor, which my grandparents used as their dining room since their apartment did not have a real kitchen for cooking.
We were seated in the restaurant at a table near the double glass doors that gave a view of the lobby. In the midst of dinner, my grandmother looked into the lobby and turned to me, saying, “Look, Herbert, there is Hank Greenberg in the lobby.”
Sure enough, there was the big first baseman, all 6 feet 4 inches of him. He was a giant to me, about 4 feet 10 inches tall at the time.
I turned to my dad and asked if I could go into the lobby and get Hank’s autograph. He gave me a pencil and a piece of paper and off I went on my adventure.
I walked up to this tall baseball hero and said, “Mr. Greenberg, can I have your autograph?”
Imagine my embarrassment when he looked down and said, “Don’t you think it would be nice to say ‘please’?”
I could feel the blood drain from my face. I replied, “Could I please have your autograph?”
He said “Of course” and proceeded to sign his name. I thanked him and returned to my seat at the table.
After everyone saw my new treasure, my mother turned to me and said she had seen him talking to me. She asked what he had said.
Somewhat reluctantly I related his remarks, to which my mother said, “See! I told you always to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you.’”
Although that day is 67 years in the past, I can still remember it as though it were yesterday. To this day, “please” and “thank you” are always in my vocabulary.
In 2006 I was able to locate Hank’s son, Stephen. I wrote him a letter telling of getting the autograph from his father and the conversation that had taken place.
In his reply, he wrote, “In your brief encounter with him, you certainly came to understand what a force he could be on strangers of all ages. Imagine what it was like growing up as his son! I can assure you that I learned many lessons, not all of them gracefully, along the way.”
Athletes from high school, college and the professional ranks should always remember that whether they want to be — or should be — they are, for better or worse, role models.
Herb Soltman of Scott, who coordinates the annual celebration at the Forbes Field wall reliving the Pirates’ 1960 World Series championship, can be reached at herbssfan@aol.com
First Published: October 17, 2014, 4:00 a.m.
