Our first daughter was born in December, 1967. She could only have been 3 to 4 months old when she attended her first Astros game in the Dome. My sister worked as an usher, wearing the space girl costumes required. She could get us in for the cheap seats for free if we would arrive early.
Early is my middle name, so we went frequently to the games. We sat in the stands and made acquaintance with some of the ballplayers. It was especially fun when my daughter got old enough to call out the players' names and ask them to come see her.By the time she was three she was a personal friend of Jimmy Wynn.
Wynn was one of the best sluggers in the game in those days, despite being only about 5'7". They called him the Toy Cannon. My little girl would call out to him when we arrived and he would often stop and come greet her or introduce her to some of his friends. She has a ball autographed by Hank Aaron and Phil Neikro, two of Wynn's friends, and now in the Hall of Fame!
I think she may have been 4 the time I won tickets at work as a safety prize. They were front row, right behind the 'Stros dugout. My daughter saw one of the coaches standing in the dugout and called out to him that she wanted to see Jimmy Wynn.
Soon after the team started warming up in front of the dugout. The coach, named Hub Kittle, appeared out of the dugout, handed Jimmy a new baseball and pointed in our direction.Wynn came over, climbed on top of the dugout and sat down to speak to Stacey! He inscribed the ball for her, "To the world's Greatest, Most Beautiful Girl, Jimmy Wynn." She has it to this day.
And I was there a couple of years ago when she got to introduce her kids to Jimmy. It was sweet for a Dad to see the family tradition and the love of the game being transmitted to the next generation.
There is more to this story, so tune in again soon on most of these same stations!
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