When I was 6 and several Yankees live in my northern New Jersey town, I made the mistake of walking up to my idol, Mickey Mantle, in an empty deli to say hi. It was a crushing experience. He was big and angry - there was fire in his eyes. He paid for his stuff, left, and I cried. The deli owner told me "It's not you, he's like that to everybody." In that moment, I became a Yankee hater. My new hero was a Dodger, whose baseball card I'd cut off a Wheaties box (it actually said "like his brother Willie..." on it!) I faithfully followed every box score and watched him every chance I got. I knew his birthday and cut out his pictures. I was in heaven as Davis and the Dodgers swept the Yankees in '63, and was in pain when his ankle shattered.
After the numbing Dodger defeat by Baltimore in '66, Koufax's retirement, and the trades of Maury Wills and Davis my allegiance was clear. Both Tommy and I would come back to New York. It would be the Mets!
I had a hard time getting my dad to take me to Shea, but he finally relented. It was a doubleheader May 28, 1967, against Atlanta, only my second major league game.
In game 1, it was as if I'd written the script. Tommy had 4 hits including a home run, two doubles, a stolen base and 5 RBI's. The Mets won 6-3.
The second game was a blowout for the Braves and my dad wanted to leave in the 9th to beat the traffic. It was 7-1, but Tommy was due up in the 9th. Dad dragged me to the walkway to leave, but I stubbornly waited.
Davis got up with a man on. Dad was yelling at me. But then Tommy hit the ball over the wall. It was 7-3 Braves, but I left absolutely beaming. 6 for 8, 2 home runs, 2 doubles and a stolen base.
At the end of the season, Davis was traded to the White Sox for Tommie Agee. I was heartbroken. I dropped the Mets and would follow Tommy's career to the end, through Chicago, Seattle, his DH resurgence in Baltimore, Houston, and the end in Kansas City (why the hell did Whitey Herzog not let him play one more game for 2000?!).
I figured I was in my own little world, following a player rather than a team. But I would find others - I was an outcast in high school, but one of the cool football players turned out to be a Tommy Davis fan as well, so we could actually talk.
Meanwhile, Jim Bouton's Ball Four verified the types of people that Mantle, Billy Martin, and Whitey Ford actually were, while praising Davis, even stating "I love Tommy Davis."
By the way, you've verified it to me - that doubleheader was no dream - you've got the records here. My only mistaken memory was an extra stolen base. Thank you!
