Show r pr£ “ Jw ik- X£ V 'V How To -- V —T sr£r: I tf- - it - V 'v ' tf" yX - : Watch The — Thi Woeidl Senes former baseball star never thought he’d like a grandstand seat But he does and his tips for spectators can help you enjoy the season’s exciting climax By JOE DIMAGGIO QUESTION! John D Grabau of Lexington Va writes: “Why don't you ask some former baseball star what it's like to sit in the stands after spending years out on the field ?" We turned that question over to Joe DiMaggio great centerfielder of the New York Yankees Here's his report "" ANSWER! I m sure most people have no idea how a ballplayer feels the day he becomes an “innocent bystander” The ballplayer's outlook on retirement runs exactly counter to the great American dream That dream tells you to work like a demon to hasten the day you can loaf The baseball player lives in dread of his last time at bat In 1931 my accumulated injuries — particularly my pesky heel — forced me to make the hardest decision of my life How can a man who has lived and breathed a sport all his life suddenly convert to a thumb-twiddlin a box seat? There was only one way out Baseball was still a part of me and I had "to find a way to participate spiritually in a game 1 had decided “ never to play again er Dream Plays Let’s admit right off the bat the’ impossibility of giving fans any rigid laws on how to squeeze extra enjoyment out of say a double play the perfect bunt or the double steal Baseball fans vary greatly in their appreciation of the game Some scarcely understand a fielder’s choice Others know more about the rules than I do Specific hints therefore would be silly AU I can do is tell you what I do myself My tips are for people who can actually get out to the ball park — which is where I like to see a ball game But they apply pretty much to TV viewers too One rule I lay down for myself is to arrive at a major-leagu- e game early enough to watch fielding" practice That’s when you’ll see dream plays — plays you may never see in the game— r executed over and over again with the casualness and grace of a ballet — — Continued on page 13 That’s 2 q i TW — |