Bernie's drive and a drive-in for sale

I had the good fortune to play golf with Bernie Allen Sunday and listen to some great old baseball stories about Tony Oliva, Ted Williams, Billy Martin, Zoilo Versalles and a host of other MLB greats. I also got the opportunity to talk with Gary Peters, Jim Landis and Jim Rivera, who are three former Chicago White Sox players and, of course, the great Senator, Roy Sievers. One of the stories I heard this weekend involved "The Springfield Rifle", Vic Raschi, who was a fixture on the Yankees pitching staff in the late 40's and early 50's. Vic graduated from William and Mary, played on 6 World Championship teams and also surrendered the first of Hank Aaron's 755 home runs.

Bernie told me that one time with the Senators, Ted Williams was going to fine all of them for playing golf during the baseball season. As the player Rep, he went to Ted and told him that it didn't hurt his swing because he batted left-handed and played golf right-handed. Ted told him that was stupid and asked why he'd do something like that and Bernie replied, "So it wouldn't mess up my golf swing."

The remainder of my Sunday consisted of watching NASCAR, taking a nap, catching up on the news and reading. Recently, I have been reading Isaacson's biography of Ben Franklin and Crapol's excellent book, "John Tyler, The Accidental President".

It dawned on me, as I watched the news and saw our Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, accusing Myanmar of criminal neglect for blocking aid to the cyclone victims, that there was a single thread connecting all of my activities for the day and it all began with Vic Raschi.

By the way, the John Tyler book is excellent and I recommend it to everyone. This guy became President as a result of William Henry Harrison dying, just shortly after he was inaugurated. Tyler fathered a total of 15 children with two wives. His first wife, Letitia, died while he was in office and she and John had eight children. He was remarried at age 54 (which I happened to be until Sunday), to Julia Gardiner, a 24 year old woman who was the daughter of former New York Senator, David Gardiner. John had been smitten by the young lass and had invited her and her father aboard the Navy's newest frigate, the USS Princeton, for a cruise down the Potomac. Actually there were a host of dignitaries aboard this magnificent ship and the Navy was "showing off" by firing the "Peacemaker", a 12 inch gun with a large 15 foot barrel. Unfortunately, something went wrong and the "Peacemaker" exploded, killing the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Navy and David Gardiner. The President consoled the young Miss Gardiner and married her 4 months later. Shortly thereafter, they commenced to having children and concluded in 1860 with their 7th child, when he was 70 years old. Of course, it was at this time when his reputation went down hill quickly, as he joined the Confederacy and was elected to their House of Representatives.

One of John and Julia's sons, Lyon Gardiner Tyler, became President of William and Mary for 31 years and was responsible for rebuilding it to its' fine stature after the harsh treatment by the Union soldiers during the Civil War.

By the way, Ben Franklin was awarded an Honorary Degree from William and Mary and our current Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, graduated from there in 1965.

And don't forget the NASCAR race at Dover, won by Kyle Busch of Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR). The President of JGR is J.D. Gibbs, William and Mary, Class of 1992. Isn't that odd?