BUBBY

The Alberton Papers, Vol. IV, #XI
By Dick Darne 7-3-07
"Bubby"
This is one of my adventures on the journey. It is one of several. They are not in order, but told as they come to me.
While visiting some old friends,(a story about them later), and talking about who’s left from our youth, Bubby came up. I knew him since we were little kids, he was the toughest kid for many miles around, and a fine athlete to boot. In high school he became our de-facto "champion" and other schools would send the best they had to test him. Now, before you readers think I’m advocating school "rumbles", let me explain.
As others of my age may remember, there was a certain "code of ethics" to a fight in those days. If memory serves me, the party of the first issued the challenge. The party of the second then picked one of two methods, box or wrestle, to settle the matter. Both were honor bound to follow the rules. In boxing, it was fists only, in some representation of Marquis of Queensbury. No kicking, no holding, no striking while down. In wrestling, there was no punching, and of course, no kicking. If you had picked boxing, you could get a fat lip, in wrestling a little sore.
Real sore in some cases, I earned a broken arm once from misjudgement on my part. It was unheard of for a knife or gun to be involved. Two against one was a no-no. If you got your butt thumped, it was usually fair and square. Whining was also frowned upon. I never knew of any lasting damage.
I went to visit Bubby. He was signed by the major leagues as a pitcher. When he asked me where I had been living, he exclaimed:
"Montana! I pitched a game there in Missoula once when I played for Twin Falls. It was twenty one degrees! I like to froze in that kind of cold.
"I got to see you pitch once when you were with the Yankees." I told him, "It was only one pitch, to Frank Howard and he hit it over the fence,.then you were replaced. I did get to see you a couple of times on TV."
I had a pretty good visit with a guy I had known from kids thru high school, and then seen only a couple of times over almost 50 years. I’m also glad to have known one major leaguer in my life. He went on to tell me about another old friend right next door. I walked over and had another nice visit. Lee is his name. His dad was one of my uncle’s best friends. When I was about 14 years old, he saw me struggling while paddling a boat. He showed me how to paddle all on one side and how to quietly scull a boat. Never forgot the lesson. Had a nice visit with Lee. All this is a fine example of serendipity. I found some things I wasn’t looking for. For more on Bubby, google Fred Talbot.