In this day of mega-buck athletes who seem to forget
about the fans who pay their salaries the newly crowned Masters Champion, Bubba
Watson, is a breath of fresh air.
He is a sincere gentleman who would not mind being called a role model.
Congratulations Bubba!
Even before the huge salaries that have permeated all major sports many
superstars were not approachable or were somewhat aloof in dealing with fans.
While attending school in Yuma, Arizona I was fortunate to meet some of the
baseball players/coaches who were in town for spring training. The baseball
complex and the Desert Hills Golf Course were adjacent facilities so when not
practicing many of the baseball players and coaches spent their time playing
golf. One beautiful spring afternoon in 1976 I was teeing it up on the first
hole with two of my team mates when a gentleman raced up in a golf cart so fast
that it slid sideways as he stopped. “Mind if I join you?” said the gentleman
who did look a little familiar. Before we could even reply he was out of the
cart with driver in one hand and his other hand extended for a handshake. “Hi,
I’m Maury Wills.” Having grown up watching the Dodgers on television (OK …more
listening on radio than television) I was speechless to have him standing in
front of me. He oohed and awed at our tee shots and hit a nice single up the
middle himself. Wills stole 586
bases in his career, was a 7 time All Star and MVP of the 62 All Star game but
on the golf course he was just another golfer trying to figure out how to get the
ball in the hole. He was interested in our games and asked for swing advice as
we played. About five holes in Wills looked at his watch and announced that he
had to leave. “Are you guys playing tomorrow?” We told him we had a 2:00 time
and only had three players. He said, “I will be there, 2:00, thanks for
today.” As you might have guessed
from the start of this story 2:00 came and went and we teed of without Maury
Wills. Our thrill of meeting a superstar was totally dashed by a broken
promise. We played in silence and were approaching the third tee box when
racing over the hill at breakneck speed came the unmistakable visage of Maury
Wills. He slid to a stop. “Guys, I am so sorry, practice went a little bit over
today!” “Sorry, sorry, sorry!” We teed it up together on the third hole and
finished the round and 36 years later I still appreciate a 7 time MLB All Star
who kept his word and sincerely cared about three 20 year old college golfers.
