McNamara Remembers Better Times
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How does a teenager from Sacramento wind up in Yankee Stadium for the 1950 World Series between the Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies and catch a foul ball off the bat of Yankee outfielder Hank Bauer?
“By train,” Angel Manager John McNamara recalled Tuesday. “It took me five days.”
It seems more fantasy than fact, but the first major league game McNamara attended was Game 3 of that series, a trip he won by being named most valuable player of the San Francisco Chronicle-sponsored Bay Area all-star game as a senior at Sacramento’s Christian Brothers High School.
McNamara, who was 18 at the time, traveled to New York by himself and stayed at the Biltmore Hotel in Manhattan.
“I stayed with [sportswriter] Bob Stevens of the San Francisco Chronicle,” McNamara said. “Actually, I stayed with his bags.”
McNamara saw Games 3 and 4 of the series, “and I would have seen Game 5 if the Yankees didn’t win it in four,” McNamara said. “It was awesome. This place was the epitome of baseball then, and it’s still a thrill to come here.”
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Angel right-hander Jason Dickson, who will make his major league debut against the Yankees today, will also make history.
Dickson, called up from triple-A Vancouver, is the 27th pitcher the Angels will have used this season, tying a major-league record set by the 1915 Philadelphia A’s, 1955 Kansas City A’s, 1967 New York Mets and 1995 Florida Marlins.
He’ll be the second Angel pitcher to make his debut in Yankee Stadium this season, following Shad Williams’ 7-3 loss on May 18.
“I’m going to be intimidated to a point, but I’m not going to change what I’ve been doing,” said Dickson, 23, who was 7-11 with a 3.80 earned run average at Vancouver. “When you try to change, you usually get into trouble.”
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Jason Grimsley, who hasn’t made it past the third inning in his past four starts, will be replaced in the rotation by right-hander Pep Harris, who will start Saturday in Baltimore. . . . Relievers Mike James (stiff neck) and Mike Holtz (arm stiffness) were unavailable for Tuesday night’s game, and shortstop Gary DiSarcina, who had started 31 consecutive games, was given Tuesday night off. . . . Center-fielder Jim Edmonds was removed from the game in the fifth inning because of blurred vision in his left eye. . . . Yankee right-fielder Paul O’Neill had hit in the No. 3 spot in the order for 170 consecutive starts until dropping to the No. 7 spot Tuesday night. O’Neill had a home run, two singles and scored three runs.
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