Foster Child

While Uncle Tommy takes some much deserved time off, we here at Uncle Tommy thought it would be fun to share a Best of Uncle Tommy column in honor of the World Series bound New York Mets.

Down in Florida during spring training in ’84 I went out for a jog from my friend’s house. To my surprise the New York Mets were practicing nearby in a public park. They shared a stadium with the Cardinals and this must not have been their day to get the stadium. One of their popular players at the time was outfielder George Foster who was winding down his career after a nice stretch with the Reds. I stopped my jog and stood outside the outfield fence watching Foster shag some flies. Surprisingly, it was just me and this little kid watching.  After a few easy catches a ball flew over George’s head and rolled all the way out to the chain link fence.  As George ran toward us to get the ball, the kid went crazy, yelling “Throw me the ball George! Throw me the ball!” George picked up the ball, looked at the kid and said “Can’t do it, son. Club policy. Gotta throw it in.” But as he pretended to throw it back to the infield, he turned and threw the kid a little pop up over the fence. The kid (and I) were thrilled.  The kid yelled “You’re worth a million dollars a year George! You’re worth a million dollars!” As he ran back to his position, George looked back at us, held up two fingers and said, smiling, “Two Million!”

I wrestled the ball away from the kid, and..., JUST KIDDING!! He kept it. I didn’t get a ball that day but I sure got a good story.