So I was at work today at the Native Hospital selling fruit, typical day, frustration, bees and sticky fingers. When the maintenance man came up to buy some fruit and veggies. He was a round gray haired fellow with a nice smile and attitude. A typical grandfather figure. His name was Ron Robbins (not sure on the spelling of the las name). When he bent down to put his spackle knife and tools of that sort down I noticed his red jacket with his name embroidered in it had a big Ohio State emblem on the back. I responded to the sight "Do you like Ohio State?" and was answered with a happy "Well of course, I'm an alum" Excited knowing the Pat is a big fan and my ohio pride "Oh well I'm from Ohio... Dayton to be exact" "Oh yeah I was born in Springfield, only 27 (don't remember exactly) miles from there." "Oh yeah I know Springfield" conversation continues on about Ohio a bit and then "I played for Ohio State and got onto a rookie league in '56, way before you were born. (I now forget the minor league team somewhere in Ohio) and then I was drafted to the Detroit Tigers along with Buck Rodgers..." I'm amazed at this point and tell him "I've been living in Detroit!" "Well I played in Briggs Stadium which was renamed Tigers Stadium, but now that's gone it's now Comerica Park, and then I played for the Reds I played in Crosley Field and then they built Riverfront but now that's gone too. But I was making more money in construction then in baseball, so I got my priorities straight and quit. I guess I was born too early, baseball players then didn't make any money compared to today, and now they are all on steroids."He shook his head with that. "It was fun."
He bought some great food and gave me an amazing story, it brightened my day so much. I came home and of course the first thing I did was look him up. I'm not sure on the dates he gave me, he said something about 1956 but I wasn't sure if he was a rookie at Ohio State or Minor League. But sadly I can't find anything on him, maybe it was just a big fish. I don't think it was or care if it was, I got to meet someone with extraordinary life story and a had a great conversation. It gives me hope in knowing that I'll have interesting stories when I am his age buying fruit at a street side stand. And hopefully I can make someone's day like he made mine.
And with that I thought it best to share my days story. It made me grin for the rest of the day.
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