Through The New York Times, Time Machine archives on Twitter, I’m recreating the Yankees 1961 season. Mickey Mantle hit 54 home runs, and Roger Maris hit 61, breaking Babe Ruth’s record 60. Also lost to time, the Detroit Tigers (101-61) incredible run and pressure they put on the Yankees (109-53) into early September.
But on this day, April 22, 1961, New York State approved the building of Shea Stadium in Flushing Queens, NY. Reading the articles reminded me of grandma.
Shea Stadium 2008
My grandmother loved the Dodgers, as did dad. In 1962 grandma pours her heart and soul into the Mets. She went to church every day, but when the Mets lost, and they lost a lot back then. I would talk baseball with her all the time, and when the subject hit the Mets, and they lost that day or evening, with a cigarette in hand or lip, “those dirty bastards lost again” would pierce through the smoke. Grandma went to church every day until she couldn’t; baseball can really grip one’s soul.
When I was a kid it was popular with owners of station wagons to post on the rear side window small yellow stickers of places that they had visited. Whenever I would pass one I would stop look at the stickers, and think to myself, someday I am going to see them This also inspired me to reading about our National Parks and states. That youthful inquisitiveness has never left me and in 2010, my wife I headed out on our first 50 day cross country road trip since we have made three cross country trip plus 10 other road trips.
On the first trip heading back from California all I could think of was, I am going to see Mount Rushmore, except for Yellowstone National Park it the most popular sticker.
Also, aware of the Crazy Horse Monument, and before, and while on the trip would talk about it, to my friends, but to my surprise most of had never heard about it.
We stayed three days in Rapid City South Dakota, and visited Mount Rushmore three-times and it was never a disappointment. The second day we started out early first seeing Custer State Park, it is a large park with an abundance of prairie wildlife
Every September they bring in cowboys to do a buffalo roundup and about twenty thousand spectators watch from the hills. I highly recommend visiting it.
From there, we headed over to see the Crazy Horse Monument with no expectation. As you arrive off in the distance you get you first impression (the last image was taken from a mile away) of its size. Seeing it in person you realize the magnitude of the concept of this monument that started in 1947 by Korczak Ziolkowski, at the request of Sioux chiefs who said they wanted ”the white man to know the red man had great heroes too.” (The New York Time Oct 21 1982) Today with the passing of his wife two of their ten children carry on, and hope to finish this project by 2047. I think it will be difficult without public involvement, something that Korczak and the Sioux wanted to avoid….
These images all were taken in 2010 the fourth image is what the completed image will look like. To convey its scale all four heads on Mount Rushmore would fit into the opening under Crazy Horse arm…
If interested in purchasing any of these images contact me through
BALLPARK PRINTS 