Introduction
for Bill Monboquette: Mission Hill Little League
October
14, 2012
As
an 8 yr old boy growing up in Waterbury, Connecticut in 1961, the Boston Red
Sox were very important to me. The
morning paper would have in the bottom corner of the front page what they
called “the Scoreboard”. It listed the
scores of all the games played the day or night before. Checking this out was the first thing I did
when I woke up in the morning. Then I
would look at the standings. The Red Sox
were usually in 8th place.
There were 9 teams in the American league then.
Waterbury
had both Boston and New York fans. In
thinking about why I liked the Red Sox I guess it had to do with the color Red,
and the shape of the letters on the home uniforms, and the sounds of the
letters in the word ‘Boston’. The
Yankees had pin stripes that looked like jail clothes; their NY logo looked
like a dollar sign; and the sound of the word ‘Yankee’
brought to mind screeching traffic noises, concrete and asphalt.
I
think I saw Boston’s place low in the standings as something strong; as if it
was holding up the other teams like the foundation of a building. Springing from their place way down below was
the spirit of this 1961 team. At times
this lowly creature would blossom into a team of champions and knock off the
best teams in baseball. They were an
inspiration!
I
would listen to games on my transistor radio as I hung around in the yard
outside or rode my bike. I would check
to see who was pitching before the game.
If it was Bill Monboquette, I
knew it was going to be a good day and we had a chance to beat anyone. To my 8 yr old self the name Bill Monboquette
was magic.
He
was the ace of the Sox in the 60’s. He
played 8 years for Boston from 1958 to 1965.
He
was a four time All-Star in 1960 (x2), 1962 and 1963
He
was a finesse pitcher with excellent control:
-
3 one-hit games
-
a no-hitter on August 9, 1962
-
a 20 game winner in 1963
-
struck out the great Micky Mantle 22 times in the 83 times they faced
each other
-
He
also had a strong arm.
-For
5 years he pitched from 10 to 13 complete 9-inning games
-
For 4 years he ranked in the top ten pitchers in the league for innings
pitched.
-
In 1962 he had a 12 inning complete game against Cleveland.
Of
importance: He stood up to Boston management about disrespect for minority
players in the early years when Blacks and Latinos integrated baseball.
He
was elected to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000.
After
leaving Boston he played for the Tigers in 1966, the Yankees in 1967 where his
e.r.a was 2.33 and finally the San Francisco Giants.
He
was a pitching coach for the Yankees and Mets, and a minor league coach in the
Tigers and Blue Jays farm system.
It’s
a pleasure and a great honor to introduce to you one of the all-time Red Sox
greats: Bill Monboquette! - Dennis Pultinas, 2012
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Notes from Mission Hill Little League dinner, Oct 2012.
Featured speaker, Bill Monbouquette.
Bill Monbouquette was a warm, arresting presence at this
year’s Mission Hill Little League dinner. He talked about his career, shared
comments on some greats he knew, told
the assembled ball players that hard work was necessary to succeed.
“Not many people get to do something that they really love.”
“I had a chance to play with Ted Williams… Carl Yastrzemski…Mickey
Mantle… Juan Marichal {others} What did they have in common? All Hall of
Famers.” [He especially notes Marichal for this audience, with many
Dominicans.]
“I am in the Hall of Fun.” He jokes.
Where he came from, when he did, was different than now.
“There was CYO. We played older guys. That was a stepping
stone. You can learn from older guys. Back in those days I had a mentor. Gus
(Holmesby?). He’d grown up an orphan. He came from the Home for Little
Wanderers (nearby). He was a milkman for
H.P. Hood. He dedicated his life to kids. A milkman’s hours are long. He had to
get up very early to work.”
He notes the work George Brennan did over many years with
the Mission Hill Little League.
Monbouquette came from Medford. “’Mehd-Fudd’ we call it.”
“One thing I learned a long time ago – you don’t get to the
big leagues without working. You are not entitled. You got to go and earn it.”
“And that is a wonderful feeling. It’s like pitching a game
and finishing it. If you get taken out in the fifth or sixth inning, it’s a
different feeling.”
“You work and you work and you work. Instant success doesn’t
happen.”
He reminded the kids that many colleges give scholarships to
day for sports.
When he started with the Red Sox, he made$6000. He
progressed to $7,000, $11,000, and so on to $14,000. He asked someone what a
pitcher with his record would get paid today. Answer: $10 million, $11 million,
$12 million.
Here I do believe I saw Bill’s wife almost tearing up
slightly.
He tells of sitting on the bench with Johnny Pesky (this
sounds slightly apocryphal).
Bill: You know, I’d play this game for nuthin.
Pesky: You stupid numbskull, you did play for nothing.
==
==
In a question and answer period he invites, he’s asked who
he roomed with over the years. It’s hard to remember, “bags” he says to
laughter. Then he shares some names, including Dennis The Menace McLaine.
More on hard work.
Yaz worked hard. Yaz had one problem. Some times he wouldn’t
run to 1st base on something that was clearly an out. Nevertheless…
“Yaz made himself a player. He was hard working. He would take extra batting
practice after the game.”
Working hard is important.. but “sooner or later somebody
takes your job.”
What was his number? # 27 Carlton Fisk took it.
Who were tough teams? Yankees. They don’t call them the
Bronx Bombers for nothing.
About the no-hitter”
“The game was in Chicago. It was against Early Wynn. Home
base ump was Bill McKinley. We called him jumping Bill. He moved around in the
back so much. “
Working for him that day was the toilet seat curve ball. He
shows how it works. Depicts a guy pulling
back and dropping his butt down as if sitting on a toilet seat.
On Early (A competitor): “If you tried to bunt, he’d hit you
in the ribs.
One play he recalls as “bang-bang” . He was in ondeck
circle, saw it well, he thought the Red Sox runner was out.
They go out 1-2-3 in 8th. The 9th.
It’s the bottom of the 9th. He gets the first two
guys (one is Nellie Fox). “Last guy is Luis Aparicio”
Curve ball. Strike 1.
Slider. Strike 2.
Slider. Check swing. Ball
(someone in crowd yells: “They shot the wrong McKinley.”
Then he swings and misses. Strike 3.
{Bill was elated) He says: “White guys can jump!”
Transcribed by Jack Vaughan
1 comment:
As the co-lyricist of "Monbo Time," I am happy you were able to incorporate it into the intro for Bill Monbouquette. And I'm also happy to hear about the nice reception Bill received from the audience (which does not surprise me, because he is a really nice guy and a great raconteur). Thanks for posting about the Mission Hill dinner, Fred Cantor
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