Boys of Summer

I can still hear Vin Scully calling "SWUNG ON AND MISSED.....A PERFECT GAME" as Harvey Keen struck out swinging to end the perfect game pitched by Sandy Koufax at Dodger Statium on September 9, 1965, 9:46 pm.  Koufax struck out the last 6 batters he faced to earn the no hitter.  When I listened to the YouTube video below just a few minutes ago I got goose bumps on my arms just like I did 48 years ago.....by the way September 9th is also TLE's birth date.....we would meet for the first time just 27 months later.

 

Friday our plan was to drive up to Vero Beach with Ernie to have dinner with his wife Carol after she got off work.  Last year when we were here we didn't have time to visit Vero Beach where the L.A. Dodgers used to have their spring training facility.  I used to listen to spring training games, and sometimes back then, on the weekends, they would televise some of the games played in Holman Stadium at Dodgertown.  Regrettably, in 2008, after 60 consecutive summers the prior owners of the Dodgers sold this facility and moved their spring training facilities to Arizona.

Driving up the Intercoastal to Vero Beach

We left around 1 pm to drive Indian River Road up to Vero Beach.  Along the way we took a break in Ft. Pierce to walk around the waterfront area.

Ft. Pierce

We were lucky to catch one manatee surfacing for air as we walked along the marina.

A manatee swimming in the Ft. Pierce Marina

We arrived at Dodgertown around 2:30 and went directly to Holman Stadium to take a few pictures of the place where the "Boys of Summer" came every February to prepare for the upcoming season.

Used to be called "Dodger Town", not Sports Village

I couldn't resist standing in the batter's box looking out toward the pitcher's mound and visualizing Sandy Koufax going through his wind up.  A lot of amazing ball players stood right there where I am.....Duke Snyder, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Steve Garvey, Kirk Gibson.....

Jackie Robinson stood here at one time taking pitches

The air was heavy with memories of summers long past......it took me a long time to get here, but I did.

We moved over to old town Vero Beach to find a place to get a drink, and a snack and found this cool hangout......a sign on the door reads "the last of the great American hangouts".......it is a funky, cool place......just the kind of place we like.

Waldo's Restaurant and Bar

We were able to get a table between the pool and the ocean.....what a nice couple of hours!

They have a brown lager called "Waldo's Lager" on tap that really hit the spot!

Couple of Waldo's Lagers....very, very good

Moon rising over Vero Beach...around 5:30

Around 6 we drove over to meet Carol, and then head over to River Front Chill and Grill in Sebastian....about 15 miles away.  Yelp gives this restaurant a 4.5 out of 5 star rating.  I had the Ahi fish tacos, which were truly amazing....in fact Ernie, Carol and I had them...TLE had the Mahi special, which she also loved.  I would agree with the rating for the food, but the ambiance left something to be desired.......very noisy, and almost impossible to carry on a conversation.

We arrived back home from our 9 hour adventure a little after 10 pm....

Thanks for stopping by!