Thanks to the generosity of Walter's brother Gary, here are some of the stories of Walter Montgomery when he was playing for the Omaha Cardinals.
How well I remember Mickey Mantle, who played for the Joplin, Missouri, minor league team before my arrival there.
It just seemed that whenever one of our teams did something to attract attention someone else would say that Mantle could have bettered that.
His death revived a memory tucked away since the early days of 1954. The setting was St. Petersburg, Florida's spring training home of the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees.
I was there as a member of the Cardinals, one of 21 pitchers struggling to make a 10- or 11 -man staff. Mickey was firmly entrenched as a Yankee, already performing superstar feats.
I knew of him before he reached the American League. I played in the Western Association a Year after he did. He tore the league apart while with the Yankee farm club in Joplin, Missouri. After hearing of his exploits I was somewhat disappointed when I discovered he wasn's eight feet tall with 30-inch biceps.
The hotel where we stayed did not have a restaurant. Consequently we ate at local eateries. The Yankee spring home, if memory serves correctly, had a restaurant and coffee shop. If Yankee players chose to eat there, club policy dictated that they wear a coat and tie. Mickey, coming from a rural background, preferred a T-shirt and jeans.
On a particular morning, the teammate I was with knew the player Mickey had in tow. Introductions were made and we went to breakfast together. On that day and maybe a half dozen others, the three of us sat with our arms folded while Mickey signed autographs for fans of all ages.
At the time we wondered what he had that we didn't. Super athletic ability? Sure, we all knew that. The non-statistical quality he possessed was, in a wordÑcharisma. He had it in abundance. What a nice guy. Way to go, No. 7.