[71buc]

Every now and then I take a break from baseball and add something out of the ordinary to my collection. Often, as in this instance, I add items that have no value or meaning to anyone but me. At 54 I am an avowed animal lover. However, the 15 year-old version of me was fascinated by the Bull Fights.

I spent many of my formative years living abroad in Europe and the Middle East. My parents traveled endlessly. As result I was introduced to many people and places that had a powerful impact on how I viewed the world then and now. During one of their adventures they took me Madrid’s Plaza de Toros. Comparing that Spanish Monument to our own Yankee Stadium would be an insult in the eyes of Spaniards. The reason for the visit was one of Spain’s most celebrated matadors El Cordobes (Manuel Benitez). In the 1960’s and early 1970s El Cordobes was to bull fighting what Muhammad Ali was to boxing, and what the Beatles were to music. I remember little of the day other than being fascinated with the noise and passion of crowd and the way he moved in the ring.

During my freshman year of high school I was sent to Madrid for boarding school. I spent every Sunday of the bull fighting season at Plaza de Toros. I read everything I could find about bull fighting including Benitez’s biography titled Or I Dress You in Mourning. His rise from a life of poverty, orphanages, and petty crime to become a national hero is a fascinating read.

Although I have no desire to ever attend another bull fight I still remain fascinated by El Cordobes. He was an unconventional matador and a flamboyant risk taker who survived many gorings. He was also a playboy who was said to have fought six bulls in the morning and enjoyed the company of six women at night. Nonetheless, I suppose he is my guilty pleasure. He serves to remind of a great year in my life. I picked up these four news photos of Benitez. Each photo depicts a different stage of his career from 1962 through 1981. Thanks for indulging me.