I was a Brooklyn Dodger fan. I remember sitting with my grandmother Mae Trautfield watching the tiny gray TV screen. She gave me her love of the game and she taught me its rules. Her death when I was seven was the biggest in my life - and terrible for my mother who had lost her father Walter when I was an infant. So I stayed a Dodger fan - until the death of Jim Gilliam in about 1980. He was the last Dodger still in uniform who had been on the field that glorious day in 1955 when Johnny Podres shut out the Yankees 2-0 at Yankee Stadium. TI was in 4th grade at Abbey Lane School in Levittown. someone had a portable radio and school let out as the game was ending. I joined the parade of Dodger fans who marched in triumph down the lane to the school's gate.Below is Dave Anderson's recollection of the day and his talk with Carl Erskine - the pitcher we called Oisk, in imitation of that strange Brooklyn Irish accent that Nana Conk had, saying "terlet" and "erl".
Sports of The Times - As ’55 Turns 55, an Old Dodger Celebrates - NYTimes.com
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