By the time Dr. Bobby Brown retired from baseball in 1954, he had served in two wars, accepted a Coast Guard Silver Lifesaving Medal for rescuing a Coast Guardsman from a plane crash, received a medical degree from Tulane University, and as third baseman for the New York Yankees was a four-time World Series champion, hitting .439 in 17 games during the Fall Classic. He was just 29.
Dr. Brown managed to follow all that up by becoming a cardiologist for 25 years. Afterward he returned to baseball, serving as the American League president for a decade. And now there he was at 94, the last surviving member of the 1947 World Series champion Yankees, living history strolling onto the field (without needing any assistance) at Yankee Stadium for the 73rd annual Old-Timers’ Day. There are no players from earlier World Series championship teams who are still alive, making Dr. Brown’s presence all the more extraordinary.
As the only pitcher to throw a perfect game during the World Series (1956), Don Larsen is familiar with the extraordinary. The 89-year-old Larsen had to be wheeled during the ceremony, then got up to use his walker the rest of the way to cheers from the crowd, and posed for pictures with the other perfect game winners for the Yankees, David Wells (’98) and David Cone (’99). Larsen’s literal moment in the sun was a microcosm of this particular Old-Timer’s Day, how one unforgettable moment would glide into another.
Speaking of gliding, even at 70, Mickey “Mick the Quick” Rivers lived up to his nickname, chasing down fly balls like back when Rush wore kimonos. Rivers, an indispensable part of those legendary late ’70s championship teams, came through in the clutch for his old teammate Brian Doyle on Sunday. The 65-year-old Doyle evokes 1978 as much as “Baker Street” and Taxi, filling in for injured second baseman Willie Randolph during the World Series that year, and hitting .438.
Over 40 years later, Doyle was back at the plate, which was remarkable, considering he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s in 2014. Doyle ended up getting a hit, with Rivers pinch running to first. The image of his bat connecting with the ball is indelible, but it shouldn’t have been too surprising. In a 2015 New York Daily News profile, Doyle said “If you’re not dreaming, you’re not living.”
Witnessing everything that day, including the almost 50-year-old Mariano Rivera hitting an inside-the-park home run a month before he’s inducted into the Hall of Fame, and 70-year-old first baseman Chris Chambliss effortlessly stretch and scoop up the ball to end the game, who would argue otherwise?
Matt Leinwohl