Memories of a short-lived baseball career and time with Mr. Bell

        As a community journalist, I’m always looking for unique and different stories.
       A week ago I saw a post on Facebook about young mister Coyce McNaul who attended the College World Series in Omaha with his grandparents, Jim and Bev Smothers.
      When their grandchildren turn 12, they take each of them for a one or two day trip. Coyce, who isn’t quite 12, wanted to go to a world series baseball game.
    While watching a game between Tennessee and Florida State, Coyce caught a home run ball hit by Volunteer first basemen Blake Burke in the top of the ninth inning.
      The catch was caught on television and his mom, Mindy, saw the catch from Montezuma. Check out the complete story in this week’s edition.
      I enjoy interviewing young people as they have some of the best stories and experiences.
     Talking with Coyce reminds me of back in the day when I played baseball.
     I was in the first or second grade and played for the Lanier Lions at my elementary school, Sidney Lanier, in Tulsa.
     I was scared of the ball and would stand in the outfield hoping that it wouldn’t come my way. All I wanted was the win and the cold Pepsi all the players received after the game.
     My next door neighbor, Mr. Belknap, who I called Mr. Bell, was a big baseball fan.
    He grew up in the small town of Harris, Iowa in Osceola County in the northwest part of the state. Born in the late 1890s, Mr. Bell left Iowa to attend college at Texas Christian University (TCU) in Fort Worth.
      Just the thought that he was able to attend college in that day and age is amazing to me.
     He met his wife, Blanche, while working for the Pinkerton Agency in Texas. He later sold advertising on ink pens, keychains, rulers, calendars and much more.
     I always enjoyed raiding his garage and taking home many of his old samples. I don’t have any of them these days and have know idea what happened to them.
      The couple were married for 60 years and lived many of those years in Tulsa.
     Mr. Bell had season tickets to the Tulsa Oilers baseball games. The Oilers were a minor league team that existed on-and-off in multiple leagues from 1905 to 1976.
      The team’s stadium was three levels and had circle ramps. It was near the Tulsa Fairgrounds and less than a mile from my boyhood home.
     In April 1977, part of the stadium collapsed during a major league exhibition game. It had started raining and fans had sought cover on the ramps, causing the stadium to collapse. Thankfully, no one was killed in the incident, which injured 17 people and children.
     The Tulsa Oilers became the Tulsa Drillers that same year and moved to a new stadium one-half mile east.
In 2010, they moved into their new home, ONEOK Field in downtown Tulsa.
     Anyway, I used to go to some of the old Oilers games and later the Drillers games in the 1970s with Mr. Bell. One year when I was a little fellow, he bought me a mini baseball bat, which I still have to this day. I keep it in my dresser drawer.
      I spent many days at the Belknaps home playing dominos with Mr. Bell in his office on an old card table. He had a nice set of white double six dominos.
     When I was age 7, my parents bought me a new bicycle. Every day after school, I would go to Mr. Bell’s house and feed the birds. He had a trash can lid he used for a feeder and a water bath in his backyard.
      On my birthday, I went to his garage and opened the door and there was shiny new red bicycle.
I don’t know if I got the birds fed that day.
      I always mowed Mr. Bell’s yard when I mowed our yard. Our front yards connected, so it was just easier to mow both of them at the same time. I even mowed his backyard many times through the years. 
     And many times when I would stop to see the Belknaps, Mr. Bell would cook me a batch of popcorn with butter on the stove. We’d set at the table and eat it together and talk.
    He had an old step stool that doubled as a seat. I would sit on it while he cooked the popcorn. Every so often, when I wasn’t looking or thinking about it, he’d cup his hand and slap me on the knee.
I would jump six inches off the seat and yell, “Ouch.”
     I have lots of good memories of boyhood days hanging out with the neighborhood kids, playing the piano, going on family vacations and just enjoying life.
     For some of us, we need to take life a bit easier, slow down and take time to enjoy it. There’s always going to be work to do and busyness going on in this world.
      Turn on a game, cook a batch popcorn and enjoy an afternoon of rest and relaxation. Your body will thank you!
       vHave a great week and always remember that “Good Things are Happening,” every day.