Back then, Cleveland trained in Tucson, and the Giants trained in Phoenix. Then we'd break camp in early April, and we would get on a private train and travel back East with the Indians, barnstorming in all these little towns.
I think I had potential to be a legitimate guy out there, but I think I was a disappointment to the Giants because I was inconsistent.
I was a raw rookie in Arizona during spring training in 1947, but I could do three things. I could run. I had a good arm. And I could hit with power.
I went into the Air Corps from 1943 through 1945.
I'd get 3-4 cheap home runs every year. You know, little 'wood shots' down either line. They would be pop flies in any other park. But, goodness me, they didn't count the number of long outs!
In my mind, I had had enough of baseball.
In New York, after that famous home run, they expected me to be up there every year. That homer raised me to a high level, with the top guys in the game.
It was a pretty fierce rivalry. I'm just speaking for myself, but I think it was general through the clubs. We didn't like them, and they didn't like us.
It was just a once-in-a-lifetime situation for me, where you know you're in a spot. You're not in a daze, but you're kind of in a mindset. Looking back on it, I just was totally concentrating on my next move.
The Dodgers had a great team, top to bottom, the whole decade. The only position they were in-and-out was left field.
There are no war stories. I ended up a bombardier, but I never got overseas. And it wasn't because I was playing baseball either. It was just a series of things that went on.
When he asked if I would like to try second base, I thought, Hey, get me in the lineup.
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