Luke

I wanted to include something about the people we all remember from our #1 School days. Unfortunately, if you Google "Ken and Birdie Button" the only reference you'll get is to this blog! And Sgt. Moynihan may have made a big impression on us when he told us to look both ways before crossing but apparently his reach was limited.

You don't have to be a baseball fan to remember Luke Easter as one of the icons of early 1960s Rochester. I remember taking off school to attend opening day (it was always in the afternoon) when I was in about 2nd or 3rd grade, way too young to know anything about baseball but old enough to appreciate the opportunity to sit in 500 Norton Street eating cotton candy instead of sitting in 85 Norris Drive learning arithmetic. The next day, the teacher asked me to tell the class about the game and I said "Luke Easter hit a home run." I don't think that Luke was even an active player by then.

Here's some stuff I found about old Luke:

Luscious "Luke" Easter was murdered during a robbery on March 29, 1979. From that day he died back until the day he was born, though nobody is sure exactly when that was, Easter lived his life on and off the field in a manner that can be best described as mythical.

The 6-foot-4-inch, 240-pound slugger batted left-handed and in six seasons with the Indians, batted .274, with 93 homers and 340 runs batted in. His best seasons were from 1950 to 1953 when he hit 28, 27 and 31 home runs, respectively.

Before joining the Indians in 1949, and while playing in the Negro League, Easter once hit a home run into the center-field bleachers at the Polo Grounds in New York, a 475-foot blast. Only two other players, Joe Adcock and Lou Brock, duplicated that feat. "When a fan told him (Luke Easter) that he had seen Luke's longest homer, the response was, 'If it came down, it wasn't my longest'." - Pat Doyle in Luke Easter; Myth, Legend, Superstar (Pat Doyle, Baseball Almanac, 09/2003)

As the 1959 season began the Rochester Red Wings, nearing the end of a productive, but increasingly acrimonious relationship with the St. Louis Cardinals, were in need of a left-handed hitter with power. Even a defensively-challenged occasional pinch hitter would be welcomed. And when Buffalo gave Easter his pink slip, Rochester general manager George Sisler, Jr., and manager Cot Deal agreed that he could help their troubled ship. Thus, minor league stop #6 was about to become Luke's final venture in professional baseball. And, like all the others, it would be a memorable one.

During Luke's years in Rochester fans treated him with admiration and respect - even the occasional boos were good-natured. In his new home the chorus changed to "Luuuuuuuuuke" as he won the hearts of the city with a booming bat, a big smile, and a willingness to cheerfully sign autographs as long as there was someone who wanted one. Civic appearances and playground clinics became commonplace as the community-owned franchise sought local support.

Throughout his playing days in Rochester and after his retirement, Luke was also a coach, assisting in the development of the young sluggers sent to the Wings by their new major league affiliate, the Baltimore Orioles. Future major leaguers Boog Powell, Curt Blefary, Pete Ward and others attributed much of their success to the gentle giant. In addition, local fans reveled in watching their first base coach as he engaged opponents, umpires, and the fans themselves in conversation and laughs. Among his biggest fans were the men he played with. Rochester manager Cot Deal remembers, forty years later, that "He was very popular with his teammates wherever he played".

(Here's an interesting link for those of you who WERE Red Wing fans back in the day.)