Talk:Brooklyn Bushwicks

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MY FATHER PLAYED FOR THE BUSHWICKS IN THE EARLY 1920'S, AS DID MANY MEMBERS OF HIS NEIGHBORHOOD BASEBALL TEAM (FROM MOFFET STREET, BROOKLYN). THE BUSHWICKS HAD A WORKING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE YANKEES. ONE BUSHWICK PITCHER FROM THAT NEIGHBORHOOD TEAM, PAT SCHMIDT (SPELLING?), WAS OFTEN GIVEN OFFERS BY THE YANKS, BUT TURNED THEM DOWN BECAUSE HE MADE MORE MONEY IN HIS WEEKDAY JOB AND HIS SUNDAY SHARE OF THE DEXTER PARK HAT. MR. SCHMIDT, WHO BECAME AN ALCOHOLIC, WAS FOUND ONE MORNING IN THE ICY GUTTER, WITH HIS RIGHT ARM IN THE SLUSH. HE RECOVERED, BUT NOT HIS ARM.

MY DAD BATTED AGAINST SATCHEL PAGE, WHO GUARANTEED A CERTAIN NUMBER (I'VE FORGOTTEN WHAT IT WAS)OF STRIKEOUTS DURING HIS PITCHING STINT, WHICH I THINK WAS 3 INNINGS. AS I RECALL, EACH SUNDAY THERE WAS A DOUBLEHEADER, WITH A DIFFERENT TEAM, MANY OF THEM NEGRO TEAMS, EACH GAME.

MY DAD TOLD ME A STORY OF A BOOKING MADE WITH A BARNSTORMING TEAM. BEFORE THE GAME WAS PLAYED, THE BUSWICK MANAGEMENT GOT A TELEGRAM FROM KENESAW MOUNTAIN LANDIS. HE SAID SEVERAL OF THE BARNSTORMERS WERE EX-CHICAGO BLACK SOX, AND ANY BUSHWICK PLAYER WHO APPEARED ON THE FIELD WITH THEM WOULD BE BARRED HIMSELF FROM ALL ORGANIZED BASEBALL. THE PLAYERS VOTED TO CANCEL THE GAME, BUT IT WASN'T UNANIMOUS.

DURING WWll, MY DAD OFTEN TOOK ME TO DEXTER PARK, WHERE HE TAUGHT ME THE FUNDAMENTALS OF "INSIDE BASEBALL." A FORMER (AND, AFTER THE WAR, A FUTURE) DODGER OUTFIELDER PLAYED FOR THE BUSWICKS. HIS NAME WAS GENE HERMANSKI. HE PLAYED FOR THE DODGERS IN THE 1947 AND 1949 WORLD SERIES.