Jack Nicklaus remembers watching Yankees, Joe DiMaggio in 1948
AUGUSTA, Ga. — On July 22, 1948, Jack Nicklaus went to his first Major League Baseball game.
At Yankee Stadium. With 68,000 others. And with some of the game’s giants on the field.
“I’m going to tell you a little story,” the Golden Bear said Thursday at the Masters after he hit the ceremonial first tee shots with Gary Player.
Nicklaus, 76, had been asked about an observation he made Wednesday in the Par-3 Contest, when he said the kids he was signing autographs for probably didn’t even know who he was or that he won 18 majors and is considered by many as the greatest golfer to ever play the game.
But, he said, they will come to remember.
And cherish it.
“The other day, I was doing a special on the 1986 Masters. And we were talking about the things (I) did as a kid,” Nicklaus said. “And the first baseball game I went to was in Yankee Stadium. I went in to see some cousins of mine, and we took them to Yankee Stadium. That particular night, Bob Feller pitched for the Indians and Satchel Paige relieved. Joe DiMaggio hit a Grand Slam home run.”
The Yankees won, 6-5. Feller went five innings and got the loss and gave up the grand slam to DiMaggio in the fifth. Paige relieved Feller and gave up one hit and struck out two in two scoreless innings. Vic Raschi got the win, Tommy Henrich also homered and Yogi Berra went 0-for-3.
The producer of the special was Golf Channel’s Israel DeHerrera.
Nicklaus continued.
“Anyway, Izzy went back and the next time he came back, he had a shadow box made. They went and found the program from the game, a newspaper article from the game. They found a baseball that Bob Feller and Satchel Paige signed,” Nicklaus said. “This is something back in my youth. I got as much a thrill out of that as anything. Because you're talking about the kids today, going back and looking at something in 1948 that I thought was pretty neat to get something like that. I'll find a really nice place in the house for that because that was really a neat thing, this big thing he did, it was just terrific.
“Even at my age, I get a big kick out of stuff like that, and these kids, years from now these kids will have the same kick about it.”
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