A link to Dad (and the Holocaust) in 1942

     

    Look at these two photos -- from 1942 -- and know that they are special to us, and that, finally, we have copies.
     These two people are my father, Louis Van Thyn -- listed as Levie Van Thijn here -- and his first wife, Estella Halverstad. The photos came to us from Belgium, sent to us on Sunday through Facebook.
     Dad, pictured here, was 23; Stella was 21.
     Today is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, so the timing is perfect because these are Holocaust-related.
     They are on display and part of the large database from the Kazerne Dossin -- the national Holocaust memorial museum of Belgium. 
     (It is like the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., the World Holocaust Remembrance  Museum -- Yad Vashem -- in Jerusalem, Israel, and the Dutch National Holocaust Museum in our original hometown, Amsterdam.)
     The Belgian museum is located in Mechelen -- a city between Antwerp and Brussels, the two largest cities in Belgium -- and that is significant, and symbolic.
      Mechelen is where, mostly in 1942-43, Jewish and Romani (gypsy) "prisoners" of the Nazis were held and then sent on transport trains to the concentration camps. Read on for the numbers.
     We are grateful to our cousin, Heleen (Kopuit)  Borgenicht, and her husband, Jacky, for making the 17-mile (27-kilometer) trip from their residence in Antwerp to the museum and providing us with the photos for our records and this piece.
     As Heleen noted, the museum has four floors -- each floor with 160 columns and 40 rows of photos -- of the (mostly) Jewish "prisoners." Heleen wrote "the walls were covered with photos." 
     So, without having the specific location, she and Jacky had to search and search to locate my father's wall photo. 
     Which they did, and here is Heleen (right) pointing to Dad's photo, and a closeup look (left) at the then young Louis.
     It is, as you might imagine, emotional for us to see him as he looked when he was about to head to Auschwitz.
      All the people in the photos on the wall went to the concentration camps -- and for the great majority went to their deaths.
       The Kazerne Dossin website says 25,274 Jews and 354 Romani (gypsies) were transported from Mechelen and that two-thirds were killed upon arrival at the camps.
      Only 1,395 of those listed survived. That word "overlevende" stamped on Dad's photo means survivor.
      Stella did not survive (the word "disparu" on her photo and so many others means disappeared, or death).

Dad (fourth row down, middle)

      Note on Dad's database page: his date of birth (6-7-1919; here in the U.S., it would be 7-6-1919); his place of birth (Amsterdam); his geslacht/gender (man), his spouse's name (the last name is incorrectly spelled, a z instead of s); his beroep/occupation; his departure date from Mechelen (24-10-1942); transport (XV); transport number (180); the number (70726) the Nazis tattooed on his left forearm; and, finally,  the category overlevende ... the answer is "ja," YES.
       On another database page are listed his "arrest" date (18 Jul 1942); his arrival date at Auschwitz (26 Oct 1942); his father's name (Natan Van Thijn -- it should be Nathan); his mother's name (Sarah Van Beer -- it should be Van Beem).
      Meticulous as the Nazis were, they did mess up some record-keeping ... as well as millions and millions of lives.
     And they must have been proud, otherwise why not destroy all those records when it was obvious the war was coming to an end and they were not going to rule the world? 
---  
     In 1942, Dad was living in Antwerp, with hopes of learning the diamond-cutting trade (thus the "diamondslijper" listing for his occupation). Actually, that did not happen.
     He was already a Dutch Army veteran and, after Nazi occupation of The Netherlands, a released POW.  He had moved to Antwerp from Amsterdam at age 16, living with an aunt and uncle, and doing odd jobs before there was a place for him as a diamond-cutting apprentice.
       After the Nazis released Dad and other Dutch soldiers in late 1940, he went back to Antwerp and eventually married Estella, and they were living with her parents when the Germans/Nazis began their full-scale "arrests" of most Jewish people in western Europe.
     Estella's parents' photos, too, certainly are in the Kazerne Dossin museum.
---

     Heleen also did a database search for her maiden name -- and found photos and information on two women: Trijntje Kopuit and Rosette Rachel Kopuit.
    And, yes, they are part of her family ... and ours. Both were born in Amsterdam.
    Trijntje was a great niece of my mother's grandfather Maurits. Rosette Rachel was a cousin of the brother-sister who were my grandmother and Heleen's grandfather.
     Trijntje, born in 1881 (age 60 when she was deported), is  listed as an employee' de maison -- domestic servant.
     Rosette Rachel, born in 1880 (63 at deportation), is listed as a professor. Neither survived the Holocaust.
     The name Rosette Rachel is significant to us, a link to family names. Rozette (with a z) was my mother's given name (Rose for short). Rachel is our daughter (named for Mom's mom, so our Rachel's great grandmother).
     Mom, as many know, also was a Holocaust survivor. Having been picked up by the Nazis in Amsterdam, like most of her family and Dad's family, her transit camp was in Holland (Westerbork). From there they went on the infamous cattle-car trains for the trip to Auschwitz.   
---
     At Mechelen, the prisoners were held in Belgian Army infantry barracks. A commemorative plaque was first placed there on May 30, 1948, and beginning in 1956, an annual ceremony has been held to commemorate the Holocaust victims who were housed there.
     After the war, the barracks were converted to a school and had other uses before they became dilapidated, and torn down. But several groups pushed for a Holocaust museum to be built, right next to the barracks' area.
     The Mechelen memorial museum first opened November 11, 1995. A few years later there was need for a larger, updated facility, which opened November 26, 2012.
     Officially, it is the Memorial Museum and Documentation Centre on Holocaust and Human Rights.
     Through cousin Heleen, we first heard about the newest museum before it opened, and the Kazerne Dossin -- connecting me to Dad -- sent an invitation to attend the opening. 
     That did not develop, but through correspondence, we learned of the existence of this database and these photos.
     We had no clue of what we might be receiving, no preview, and to be honest, the museum was asking much more of a payment than we were willing to make.
     Heleen also had been unable to attend the museum opening, but promised that some day she would visit the museum and try to find Dad and Estella's photos. 
     She has come through and we have it to tie into today's Remembrance Day.
     It is the 75th anniversary of January 27, 1945, when the Auschwitz camp was liberated by Allied forces. My mother and father -- and my sister Elsa's -- were free (but never free of the memories) and a few months later they would meet in Amsterdam, starting new lives.
     We remember the Holocaust every day. We will never forget.

An LSU football prediction ... for 2043

      Joe Burrow reminds me of Steve Spurrier, and vice versa. And I have a prediction that will be a common bond concerning the Heisman Trophy.

Steve Spurrier (left) was one of the Heisman Trophy winners standing
behind Joe Burrow when the LSU QB accepted his award in December 2019.

     (You will have to read to the bottom of this blog to see the prediction.)
     Maybe even Spurrier -- never bashful -- would laugh at the quarterback comparison. Yes, both are Heisman Trophy winners (Spurrier 1966, Burrow 2019), but in complete different eras of football. Spurrier loved the passing game even in 1964-66 as Florida's starting QB, but in that era, the passing game was so limited.
     He was a good enough passer -- and a leader, and kicker -- to be a first-round NFL Draft pick. Burrow likely will be the first player to be selected in the 2020 NFL Draft. 
      Spurrier is partisan still to the Gators he coached into a national power for 12 years and also to  South Carolina, where he coached for 10 1/2 years. But we have to believe that he loved this LSU passing game and its quarterback (even if he was rooting for Florida on October 12 (Tigers 42, Gators 28).
     This is what I believe is the main common bond for Spurrier and Burrow: Both are total winners. 
     They both have national-championship credentials -- Spurrier in 1996 as The Old Ball Coach, director/designer of Florida's sensational passing game; Burrow in 2019 as the leader of LSU's best-in-history offense.
     Both honest, maybe too much so for some people. Brash -- Spurrier with his words, his biting "fun"; Burrow with his actions -- waving bye-bye to Texas fans, his "show the money" gestures, his pointing-to-the-ring-finger display Monday night.
     Spurrier, in his Florida association, was as much of a nemesis for LSU as Nick Saban has been as Alabama coach.
      Steve Superior, as the Gators' QB, was 3-0 vs. LSU in 1964-65-66. As Florida head coach (1990-2001), he was 11-1 vs. LSU, and most of those games were not close.
     LSU's only victory was in 1997 -- 28-21 -- when Florida was the defending national champion and ranked No. 1 again, and after that upset, LSU running back Kevin Faulk was on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
     But Spurrier this week was on LSU's side.
     He told 247Sports, prior to the national-championship game: "... They [LSU and Clemson] both know how to win. They aren't going to beat themselves. Both teams have excellent quarterbacks. As an SEC guy, I have to sort of pull for LSU.
     "Joe Burrow -- I got to know him a little bit during high school when he came up there. He's a wonderful young man and has a good family. ... It's really going to be an interesting game to watch."
     And it was.
---
     Burrow, barring a trade, appears headed to the Cincinnati Bengals as the first pick in the NFL Draft. Good luck to him.
      No guarantee that he will be a great NFL player, a star, anywhere close to the magnitude of his 2019 LSU performance. 
      Look at the list of Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks starting in the 1960s, and it is a history lesson. 
      Terry Baker (Oregon State, 1962) was the first; Burrow is the 32nd.
      Baker was the first pick in the '63 NFL Draft, by the Los Angeles Rams, and lasted three years -- basically "a bust" -- before he was off to play in Canada.
       Only two Heisman Trophy QBs in the last six decades (Roger Staubach, Jim Plunkett) led Super Bowl winners, only one (Staubach) is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, only one other (Cam Newton) has played in the Super Bowl.
      Evaluate the group and you find some starters who had nice seasons, some that faded away, some were busts (hey, Johnny Manziel) and some that never had a chance or even tried. 
      We'll see about the five Heisman QBs before Burrow -- Kyler Murray, Baker Mayfield, Lamar Jackson (this season's NFL MVP, playoff flop last weekend), Marcus Mariota, Jameis Winston. 
       I will make no prediction on Burrow's NFL future -- no "rocket" arm, just a darned accurate one -- except I would not underestimate him. His command of the game, his incentive and leadership will carry him a long way.
      But remember, he's going to the Bengals. They are not the Bayou Bengals.

--- 

     Speaking of predictions, how about this one from our friend Paul Finebaum (Shreveport Journal sports-news writer, 1978-79) and now well-known SEC Network pundit (and, many think, Alabama booster) on Tuesday, November 19:
      "This will be LSU's last week at No. 1."
      Yes, we took note of that.
      Well, Paul was right ... for a couple of weeks and not entirely. LSU did drop behind Ohio State in the College Football Playoff rankings after that week -- after Ohio State beat Penn State -- but never fell from No. 1 in The Associated Press poll. 
     And, after the conference championship games, Paul was wrong. LSU went back to No. 1 in every poll/ranking ... and stayed. So Paul, on this, is wrong forever.
     It's his job -- analysis, predictions, interviews -- and be outspoken, keep viewers interested and  watching, keep them talking with and about him. So let's give him a break. 
     As my wife always reminds me, throw enough predictions out there, and some might even stick. 
---
     So, back to Spurrier and Burrow, here is my prediction: 
Someday, as Spurrier did at Florida, Burrow will return to LSU as the head football coach. 
     He has the football genes (his father coached for decades), he has the football smarts, he might even play for 10 years in the NFL (Spurrier did, mostly as a backup QB to John Brodie with the 49ers), and then he can go into coaching.
    Like Spurrier as the folk hero returning to his alma mater, Burrow will return to LSU and Louisiana, where he is now a forever legend. 
      It took Spurrier 24 years (1966 to '90) between Heisman Trophy QB to Gators' head coach, so project Burrow at LSU in 2043. Not many of us will be around to see my prediction come true. ... (Throw enough out there and some will stick.)
       So, in 2043, when someone comes across this blog when Joe Burrow is named LSU head football coach, let our kids and grandkids know we got this one right. Thank you.

"A team for the ages" indeed

    Here is one perspective: LSU football is not Alabama football, but this "perfect" national-championship season was a helluva imitation.
     It matches 1958 as an undefeated, untied, No. 1-ranked season, the only two in LSU history. Alabama has had -- count 'em -- seven of those, nine perfect seasons overall and 12 national titles of some sort.
     Alabama, it seems, does this all the time (and don't we get tired of it?).
     It was not until November 9, when these Tigers finally slayed the Alabama dragon after eight long years (and nine consecutive losses), that I thought LSU could win this national championship.
       Until then, I was a bit of a skeptic. Too many so-so to subpar defensive performances -- too many misreads, too many missed tackles, too many big breakdowns.
       Looks foolish now to have underestimated this LSU team. 
       But now, after this fantastic season, this fantastic team and, yes, this fantastic quarterback, those of us who have been longtime LSU fans can relish it.
      Storybook. These Tigers met every challenge. When they faced adversity -- and that wasn't often, or for very long -- they overcame it. 
      They actually trailed in six of the 15 games, three times in one game (Auburn) and by 10 points against Clemson.
      LSU fans know this refrain: 1958 ... 2003 ... 2007 ... 2019 ... and next year. That's football national-championship gold.
      Think most of us agree: Joe Burrow had the greatest season any LSU player -- and any major-college quarterback -- has ever had.
     And I believe even Billy Cannon would have conceded that  "Burreaux" now will be considered LSU's greatest player.
      When Coach Ed Orgeron -- a great story himself -- says this is "a team for the ages," he'll get no argument here.
      We'll see where LSU football goes from here, but we don't expect to see this type season/team in our lifetimes again. Too much to expect.
      But did you expect this 15-0 season? Did I? Heck, no. Knew the Tigers were experienced, had great depth at a lot of positions, had potential big-time talent, and the usual challenging schedule. 
         How good would Burrow be this year? His receivers? Did they have a real No. 1 running back or would it be by committee? Were they really serious about a fulltime commitment to a spread offense? Would they stick to it?
Would the offensive line be much improved over its inconsistent 2018 play? Defensive front looked potentially tough, except what about that huge hole left at inside linebacker with Devin White gone to the NFL? Was true freshman cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. really that good, and with that, would the secondary be as talented as advertised?
      And ... and ... could these Tigers finally beat Alabama?
      Think we have our answers.
---
     Orgeron, in recent interviews, said he thought the Tigers could win the national championship after they turned a third-and-17 play, trying to protect a 37-31 lead on Texas, into Burrow's 61-yard TD pass to Justin Jefferson with 2 1/2 minutes to play. Burrow, typically, slid left to avoid the Longhorns' pass rush and found Jefferson wide open.
      Glad Orgeron was so confident after that. I wasn't.
      Great and explosive as the Tigers were offensively, they wallowed through the first halves against Northwestern State and Utah State and Missisippi State. 
      And the defense was just awful at times against Vanderbilt and even worse against Ole Miss, with QB John Ryes Plumlee running wild and scoring on runs of 46, 60 and 35 yards -- some completely untouched -- and for 212 yards overall, part of the Rebels' 614 yards (402 rushing).
     As I posted on Facebook, the linebackers (especially Patrick Queen, Jacob Phillips and Jacoby Stevens) and, surprisingly, safety Grant Delpit were misreading plays badly, caught out of position, and when in position, missing tackles. So un-LSU defense-like. Distressing. Not national-title caliber ... at all.     
    But, but, but ... in two of the biggest tests, Auburn and Florida, that defense made the plays when needed. Against Auburn, lots went wrong for LSU in the first 10 minutes and yet, our Tigers hung in, kept their poise and took control. Same for the Florida challenge after the Gators went up 28-21 in the third quarter. LSU, given a break or two, scored the game's last 21 points.
     And after the Ole Miss defensive debacle, the Alabama showdown and a wild runaway first half, a two-touchdown final minute for LSU and a shocking 33-13 lead. 
     Sure, the Tide helped out with huge turnovers -- Tua's all-alone fumble and a foolish pass intercepted -- and Bama's defense wasn't what we've seen for years. 
      When Bama, as expected, began its comeback and Stingley, on a rare bad day, was burned by the Tide's excellent receivers, LSU's offense proved -- again -- how potent it was and how its receivers were better even than Bama's. So was the QB.
      With that victory, even I could see the end of the national-championship road.
      The last four games were potential challenges met in  resounding and convincing manner. Must admit that the Texas A&M game meant a lot. After that seven-overtime joke a year ago -- that one stuck in our minds almost every day since -- it was especially gratifying that the Aggies were completely dismantled.
      But to beat two great programs always -- Georgia (SEC Championship Game) and Oklahoma (CFP semifinals, Peach Bowl) -- in one-sided games and to outlast a Clemson program that had won 29 games in a row, meant quite a finish. You knew that last step would be a difficult one -- Clemson was talented, well-coached and prepared -- and it was.
      It was LSU's time, and Joe Burrow had the magic touch that turned a potentially very good team into a great one.
       Two other factors: (1) the offensive line, so sporadic in the previous two seasons, was tough enough and consistent; (2) great a passer as Burrow was, it was his pocket presence -- his ability to sidestep the pass rush and pick his spots to run the ball (and he's a deceptively fast and adept runner) --  that kept LSU's offense moving. 
     And that defense? Yes, it gave up some big plays and was burned occasionally. But the last four games, the tackling was solid and those linebackers -- especially Queen against Clemson when, on one play, he had a touchdown-saving tackle -- and Delpit played up to their capabilities.
      Because it wasn't what we have come to expect from LSU defenses over the decades, you could say that this wasn't a perfect LSU team. But what the heck does that matter now? It was a perfectly fine season.
      And whatever the future brings -- with the famous Casablanca line in mind -- we can say this: LSU will always have 2019.
      (Next blog piece: Joe Burrow, a prediction)

Larsen was perfect for my scorebook

     My baseball travels -- limited but fun -- never put me in the same place as Don Larsen. But he was a big part of my early baseball days.

     Don Larsen and I were scorebook buddies, if you will.

     When he died (of cancer) on New Year's Day at age 90, my first thought was about my little blue-covered baseball scorebook, a birthday present in 1958 when I turned 11.

     I knew, I remembered, that one of the games I scored in that book -- my first efforts at scoring baseball games, something which would become a recurring theme in my sportswriting career -- was Larsen's Game 3 start in the 1958 World Series.

     Dug into the files downstairs for that scorebook and it reminded me of how often I saw him pitch in the late 1950s.

     He won that game 4-0, with seven dominant innings (and two more from fire-throwing, thick-glasses reliever Ryne Duren), both of them hard-drinking Yankees stars of the late 1950s.  

     It was arguably Larsen's second-biggest pitching victory of a 20-year pro career (14 in the big leagues). The Milwaukee Braves, defending World Series champions after their 1957 conquest of the Yankees, had won Games 1 and 2 of the '58 Series, too.

     So they really needed Larsen to come through that October 4 at Yankee Stadium. But, of course, they knew he was capable. He had proven that on October 8, 1956. 

     His perfect game that day -- the greatest game ever pitched in baseball history (and let's not argue about that) -- made him a forever Yankees and baseball legend.

     Legendary, too, is crusty New York baseball writer Dick Young's lead on the game: "The imperfect man pitched the perfect game."

     That fall, '56, we were new to this country; baseball was a new sport to us. But having seen the Yankees on TV a few times that summer, I liked the pinstriped uniforms, I liked the looks of the center fielder wearing No. 7 on his back, I liked the winners. It was the start of a lifelong love affair.

     I remember that the result of that game was the big headline in the Shreveport Journal -- the afternoon paper -- that day, by the time we got home from school. We had begun taking the newspaper not long after arriving in the U.S.; those sports pages helped me learn to read English much more quickly.

     Because World Series games, all in the afternoon, began at noon Eastern time, 11 a.m. Central, and the game  lasted only 2:06, it was over by 1:06, so the Journal got it into its city edition. They slipped Larsen's head shot in at the bottom of Page One.

     I hardly knew how significant it was, did not really understand what "perfect game" meant, but did realize that it gave the Yankees a 3-to-2 games lead in the Series over the Brooklyn Dodgers. 

     And Don Larsen came into my life.

     By 1958, I did know how important his Game 3 victory was. And I knew that just about every time the Yankees were on TV, and I recorded a game in my little scorebook, he was in the lineup one way or another.

     Scored a dozen games in that book, all Saturday afternoon "Game of the Week" television games -- the only baseball game each week on TV in those days, on CBS (Channel 12, KSLA, in Shreveport). Dizzy Dean and Buddy Blattner were the announcers. Simple days.

     What did I know? Had the home team on the left page  of the book (should have been on the right). Didn't have enough space for all the substitutes. Recorded walks with a simple "b" (should have been "bb"); recorded singles with an "h" (should have been 1B).

     Four of those games were Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox (so what's new?) -- and Boston won them all (but the Yankees, winning the American League for the fourth year in a row, finished 13 games ahead of the third-place Red Sox in the standings).          

     In the first game I ever scored, Don Larsen was the losing pitcher with five mediocre innings. 

     He also was the losing pitcher in a significant game I scored on September 20, 1958 -- a no-hitter by Hoyt Wilhelm of the Baltimore Orioles, the most-often-used relief pitcher in baseball history for years and years, the old knuckleball expert making a rare start. 

     (It would be another 45 years before the Yankees were no-hit again, by six Houston Astros pitchers on June 11, 2003.)

     Wilhelm's knuckler was at its dancing best, but Larsen was darned good, too -- a one-hitter for six innings. The Orioles won 1-0 on Gus Triandos' seventh-inning home run off little lefty Bobby Shantz. It's right there in my scorebook.

     In two other games I scored, Larsen did not pitch. But -- because he was one of baseball's best hitting pitchers of his day -- he pinch-hit. He walked and scored vs. the Red Sox in August '58; he struck out against the Cleveland Indians in a May 2, 1959, game.  

     I recall being so happy to have scored his 1958 World Series Game 3 victory. He wasn't perfect -- he gave up six hits -- but he was tough, and so was Hank Bauer at the plate -- a two-run single in the fifth, a two-run home run in the seventh. 

     Larsen was a big, rangy guy for his day, a talent whose reputation was as an often wild character away from the stadium. His nickname: "Gooney Bird." No secret he liked his nightlife and his drinks. 

     He could be luckless -- evidence was a 3-21 record for the  Orioles in 1954 and 1-10 for the Kansas City Athletics in 1960, both awful teams -- and could be lucky, the trade to the Yankees before the 1955 season as part of a historic 17-player deal with Baltimore that also sent fellow right-handed pitcher Bullet Bob Turley to New York.

     Larsen was most often a starter for most of his Yankees time with records of 9-2, 11-5, 10-4, 9-6 and 6-7. 

     He was good enough that manager Casey Stengel turned to him in big games. That start on the day of The Perfect Game was crucial because the Series was tied.

     And the next two seasons (1957, 1958), he started Game 7s for the Yankees vs. Lew Burdette and the Braves.  In '57, it was a 5-0 loss; in '58, it was a 6-2 Yankees victory, although Larsen lasted only 2 1/3 innings and Turley relieved, pitched out of a bases-full jam in the third with the Yankees leading 2-1 and was magnificent for the final 6 2/3).

     Another Larsen contribution to the Yankees, not of his doing: They traded him away before the 1960 season to the Kansas City Athletics, along with Hank Bauer -- a wonderful right fielder for the Yankees for a dozen years -- and others. The main piece the Yankees received in the deal: Their new right fielder, Roger Maris. 

     So Larsen helped bring in Maris. A very good trade.

     In 1962, Larsen pitched in another World Series -- against the Yankees. He worked briefly in relief in three Games (1, 3 and 4), and -- luckily -- was the winner in Game 4, although he pitched only one-third inning and faced only two batters (walked one).  

     After his Yankees career, Larsen pitched for six MLB teams over eight years, but only briefly for more than two years with any one team (Giants, 1962-63-six games in '64). He made only 14 starts after 1960; his last majors stop was with three games with the Cubs in 1967.

May 20, 1968

May 8, 1968, game
in Shreveport

     His final three seasons were mostly in the minors, including Texas League stops (Dallas-Fort Worth in 1967, San Antonio in 1968). A personal memory: Larsen pitching -- in relief -- for the San Antonio Missions against the Shreveport Braves in '68, the year our city returned to the TL. Larsen lost one game to the Braves in the ninth inning; he earned a save at our not-yet-faded old ballpark. 

     A few weeks later, he retired from the game, with an 0-4 record for the Missions. He was 39, a legend forever. 

 ---

     In recent years, our views of Don Larsen was at the Yankees' Oldtimers Day, on his introducting making his way onto the field using a walker. Almost every year, he was greeted by and sat next to Dr. Bobby Brown, the Yankees' third baseman of the late 1940s/early 1950s.

      Dr. Brown, at 95 now the oldest ex-Yankees star at the Oldtimers' Day festivities, resides in our seniors facility in Fort Worth. The gracious, story-telling Doctor was -- like Larsen -- a Yankees World Series star, with key game-tying and game-winning hits in 1947 and 1949.

     His MLB career, interrupted by two seasons in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict, ended in 1954, so he was never teammates with Larsen. (Dr. Brown then had a 25-year career as a cardiologist in Fort Worth, followed by 10 years back in baseball as American League president.)

     He and Larsen talked often at the Oldtimers' Day weekends, and had a connection. Larsen lived on a lake in North California where Dr. Brown's brother, a carpenter, built his own home.

     Dr. Brown was a high achiever all his life, in several phases, certainly considered a hero by many people. 

     Don't know that "hero" describes Don Larsen. I would say, was an underachiever for his baseball talent. But no question, he was the ultimate overachiever on one perfect day and he won't be forgotten.

      He was a big man in my scorebook.

San Antonio Express column after Don Larsen's baseball retirement, June 28, 1968