I had worked in MLB during the 80's as a very low level flunky but I didnt care, I was getting a paycheck from a MLB team and had access to tickets and events one normally doesn't have access to. Why am I saying this? Well these kind of fantasy dinner invitations that started this thread do happen if you are in the right place at the right time.
In 1988 I had tickets to the All Star game in Cincinnati and better yet, the team's traveling secretary was able to secure for our group a large suite in the official All Star hotel where everyone who was anyone was staying. Being a bunch of young guys in our 20's, we arrived three days early with the express purpose of partying and eventually enjoying the game. As we hung out in the hotel bar, a who's who of baseball notables would walk in and out and at that time, they were very agreeable to conversation as long as you were buying. Being a lover of baseball history, I was in heaven as I could recognize some of the older guys flowing through and would engage them in conversation until they had enough of me.
After a few days I realized a much older gentleman would always hang out in the corner of the bar and was usually by himself but everyone seemed to know him and would take a moment to say hello. We sent the man a drink and he acknowledged us with a raised glass and I finally asked someone who would know, who the old man was. My acquaintance looked at me, smiled and said I probably need to go talk to this man as he was the scout that discovered Roberto Clemente and so many others. After picking my jaw off the floor, i walked over to the old man's table, introduced myself and asked if I could chat with him awhile.
I sat and talked with this man much of the evening as he told stories of Clemente and Musial. He talked about his time with Branch Rickey as Rickey hired him to be a scout for the Cardinals and quickly brought him to the Dodgers when Rickey went to Brooklyn. He talked about scouting Jackie Robinson and much of the Negro Leagues before the integration and so much more. That evening was literally like having baseball history come alive for me.
My new friend would eventually say he was getting tired and needed to get to bed so I knew our conversation had finally come to an end. I shook his hand, he thanked me for the other drinks I bought him. As we parted I asked his name and he told me his name was Howie Haak. I never saw the man again but that meeting that last at least three hours has been forever burned in my memory. I just wish I would have recorded that conversation.
Mr. Haak had expensive taste as I remember those drinks being pretty pricing but I suspect he saw an easy mark who would buy him expensive drinks in exchange for some old baseball stories. In the end, he was right as I was an easy mark but to me it was worth every penny.
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