Have you ever heard the name? I imagine you would only know the name if you were a fan of the Cleveland Indians in the mid-70s. Although he played for Cleveland, Detroit, Atlanta, and the dreaded and oft-hated New York Yankees during that decade, he really only had two almost-good years--1973 and 1974. Having had 23 and 22 HRs during those two years, which led the team (neither George Hendrick, nor the coolly named Oscar Gamble did better), Charlie then evaporated into relative obscurity.
However, for me, he was more than a man with two decent years.
In 1973 my family moved to Bedford, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland. I was nine years old. For the next six years of my life, I spent a considerable amount of time with a cousin who indoctrinated me in the world of professional sports--football, basketball, and, mostly, baseball. It's not that I had never seen professional sports before (my father was a huge Boston Celtics fan, and I cannot tell you how many Sunday afternoons were spent with the Celtics on the television and my dad sleeping in The Chair), but my cousin played a part in instilling in me an absolute LOVE for the game.
The previous summer we had lived near Springfield, Ohio. I played on a little league team in Christiansburg, Ohio. We wore yellow hats. I watched bugs and birds in right field.
In Bedford I played on baseball teams, too. In fact, I distinctly remember being put on an all-star team one year. I had been a second baseman all year, but I ended up playing left field for a bit in that game. One memory I have of those years of little league in Bedford was the time I raced behind second base to catch a pop fly, leapt, and fell on my shoulder. I cried. I can't even remember whether I caught the ball.
In my first year as a little leaguer in Bedford, we were given a choice on what we wanted to make our team name. We choose to be called the "Spikes", because Charlie Spikes was currently The Man. In fact, some called him the Bogalusa Bomber. I have no idea what that means, meant, or from whence it came. Ah! Google rules. He was from Bogalusa, LA.
In fact, here's a good little bio, along with pictures of the baseball cards from his two best years:
http://aardvarktradingco.wordpress.com/2009/01/29/the-%E2%80%9Cbogalusa-bomber%E2%80%9D/
To my ONE fan on this site, I've ordered a little something (used) from Amazon. I hope you enjoy it. If it's a worthy read, let me know.
