Oldest Living Major League Ballplayer?

[batsballsbases]

I wanted to post about a great day that I had with Mike Sandlock. Im very good friends with his son so I asked him if I could come over and have a nice talk with his Father. Well let me tell you what a time I had! There couldnt be a nicer man to speak to and at coming to 97 let me tell you he had some of the best stories to tell. He talked about Jackie Robinson and how he came up and became a friend of Jackies and golfed with him for many years after baseball. And at 97 he still tries to golf at least 5-6 holes a week! I asked him who was his best influence upon him as he came up and he said Bill Dickey. I asked him which pitchers he thought were some of the best that he caught he said Spahn, (told me he caught him when he was young in the 3 I league they both came up in 42) Don Newcombe,Allie Reynolds, and Carl Furillo. He made a joke about when he came up in 1942 and had 1 at bat and singled he said I batted 1000 that year! Said he loved his time playing in the Pacific Coast League for the Hollywoood Stars best time of his life, I was able to see alot of the country and his oldest son was the bat boy for them and the Boston Braves. I asked him if he had ever been hurt and he told me all about how his career ending injury and if it wasnt for the Pirates doctor puting him in the hospital and draining his knee (he said it looked like custard) when they needled it out that the infection was so bad that he might have lost his leg. I could go on and on as we talked for about 2 hours. I asked him to sign a few things for me and I think he was quite thrilled that I asked him ,he signed me a pile of 3 by 5 cards. Sorry Richard no COAs but I think the picture tells the story! We took some pictures at what he calls his memory wall! That catchers glove on the wall is one that he invented and used to catch some of the pitchers knuckle balls or Flutter balls as he called them. He still has some of his items as you can see on the wall and some nice signed photos and scrap books you can see piled up in the picture. I asked him if he still had his Uniforms from any of the teams and he said no that he had sold them years ago! By the way he is a man of modest means. I can tell you I hated to end the conversation but I think he got a great thrill out of someone younger being able to talk to him about 40-50s ball players. I held my own fairly well! But what a gentleman and great guy I met today. I do plan on going back and doing a tape recording of him because some of the stories would be ashame to lose! Also some photos of Mike and his wall! All in All Mr Sandlock is truely a great guy to talk to.

[Leon]

Great story. Thanks for sharing it with us Al.....

[z28jd]

Great stuff Al and great talking to you tonight! I could probably sit there and listen to him talk for days on end about his baseball memories

[batsballsbases]

Thanks Leon,
John thankyou also. Boy you can tell he was a catcher when you shake his hand he has digits going every other way! John like we talked if you can break away get me a time and I will try and set something up. Would be nice to do something because I believe he is now the oldest pirate player left. Mike did say that he never thinks about age when I told him that statment about being the oldest pirate player he said how could that be Im only 69! Mike was so happy that I didnt ask him questions about statistics. He said he never gave much thought to them .Just wanted to play baseball where ever he could. Said he was working at electrolux the vacuum cleaner maker making 200 a month. When he first signed he was making 75 a month. Said he didnt care just wanted to play! We also talked about todays ballplayers and what they make ! I wont go into what he said!

[michael3322]

This is a fantastic thread.

Wikipedia actually has a great article on this that lists not only the players and their birthdays, but also the dates of their MLB debut and final game, as well as the teams they played for and the number of games.

Check it out here:

List of oldest living Major League Baseball players

[Wite3]

Very cool to sit and talk with someone like Sandlock. Great post!

Joshua

[z28jd]

Originally Posted by michael3322

This is a fantastic thread.

Wikipedia actually has a great article on this that lists not only the players and their birthdays, but also the dates of their MLB debut and final game, as well as the teams they played for and the number of games.

Check it out here:

List of oldest living Major League Baseball players

Someone needs to fix Vic Barnhart on there, not only is his birth date wrong(he was born in 1922) the link on his page goes to a different player on baseball-reference. He was born on the same date as Joe Astroth(A's player from the 40-50's) and both are still alive at 89 years old

[carrigansghost]

Al, It must be very special to meet a man such as Mr. Sandlock. I would love the oppertunity to talk to some of the founding members of baseball that are still with us.

Rawn

[batsballsbases]

Rawn,
Yes it was a great thrill! His son told me that he wants me to come back and for one of the board members I may be doing an interview about his time with the Pirates. He is now the oldest pirates player left. His son told me he has one of his scrap books from his pirate days on the table ready for me ! I may see him again Sunday!