This story is featured in what was then called THE BUFFALO EVENING NEWS.
This was the evening newspaper in a city that, at the time, had two newspapers:
1] The Buffalo Evening News~~~~which printed editions in the afternoon, and the 'Final' ----in the evening.
2] The Courier Express~~~~which was Buffalo's 'morning' newspaper.
The front-page of this edition features an IMAGE of that afternoon's home-opener at War Memorial Stadium. On a page that is customarily devoted to 'national' or 'world' news images, the Buffalo Baseball Bisons becomes the top-notch-consideration on this day !!
What caught my attention from a personal perspective was the article in the upper left-hand-corner of the Front-Page sub-titled JACKSONVILLE OPENS SCORING IN OPENER WITH A HOME RUN. [High-lighted #1]
In May of 1966, I am 14 years old; a freshman at a local Roman Catholic high school.
In terms of kids attending the home-opener, here is how this worked !! Back then, there was no helicopter-parents; helicopter-moms. Mom was home----as the house-keeper, and dad----was at work. So~~~~12 years, and up~~~~if you could furnish a permission-slip signed by your mom or dad, seventh grade and eighth grade in public and private; Roman Catholic elementary schools-----and public high-school students --- would be allowed to attend the opening game.
Cutting through the article, the first thing evident to me is that in 1966, Buffalo is no longer the farm-team of the New York Mets. But rather, they are now the farm team ---- of the Cincinnati Reds. Ironically, the Home-Opener opposition ---- the Jacksonville Suns, are now the farm-team of those same New York Mets. On the mound for the Jacksonville Suns----the youngster; the one-and-only, Tom Seaver. By 1969~~~~Tom Seaver would be the premiere pitcher in the Mets starting-pitcher-rotation, while being one of the premiere pitchers---in all of major-league baseball. For a local kid; a local fan, I now have to recognize that gone from the line-up landscape were such favorites as Elio Chacon, Pumpsie Green, and Choo-Choo Coleman in the infield, and Duke Carmel in the outfield.
Believe it or not, up through 1965, other Bisons players that would end up becoming part of the 1969 Miracle-Mets World Series winning-team----would include Ron Swoboda, Cleon Jones, Ed Kranepool, and Jim Hickman !!
The paragraph: ""The Suns opened the scoring in the first inning with Larry Elliot's two-out home run"" In 1965, Larry Elliot was with the Bisons; property of the News York Mets. With Elliot throwing-left; batting left----his home-run was the result of accomplishing something ---- somewhat unique to baseball stadiums.
The right-field porch was very very short at War Memorial Stadium. The 'Pole' was marked as 300 Feet !! In all likelihood ---- it was shorter than that. The right-fielder ALWAYS played, straight-away, on the right-field warning-track !!
To make this part of outfield more of a challenge to the batter. the stadium had heavy-duty netting raising an additional 20 feet up from the right-field-fence---from the right-field foul-pole, to an upright-stanchion at the power-alley portion of right-field. To get credit for the home-run, Elliot would have had to 'clear' that netting !!
What I found most fascinating about this article --- was the third paragraph: Buffalo manager Red Davis, hoping to arouse the Bisons from their slump shook-up the batting order again, dropping Joe Hicks and Len Boehmer down to No. 7 and; No. 8. [in the line-up].
JOE HICKS !! My God !! Joe Hicks !!
Joe Hicks must not have been Mets-property. I am not even sure he was any Major-League team's property. Why?!?!? Because Hicks had been in the Bisons line-up for the last couple of years. If he was 'Mets-property', he would now be in the Suns line-up. All of the 'reference-sources' show his last official year of major-league affiliation---as 1963. His first-year in major-league baseball is shown as 1953. By 1966, he is a veteran in the zenith of his career. While this is only speculation, I am suspecting that these last years with the Buffalo Baseball Bisons has him getting paychecks from the Bisons front-office.
I will always remember----Elio Chacon, Pumpsie Green, Choo-Choo Coleman, and others, but~~~~I will ALWAYS remember Joe Hicks. Joe Hicks was a left-handed batter; and----always, a mediocre one---at best !! But what for me set Joe Hicks apart from ANYBODY else who I have ever observed playing baseball was his 'routine' in the batter's box.
Joe Hicks had this very very exaggerated routine while awaiting his next pitches. This had to have driven the umpires crazy, but they did not do anything. This was still in the era of laissez-faire regarding trying to control the game; trying to not have the baseball-game drag-on infinitum as the umpires now try to do by using implemented rulings to keep the game moving along so that it ends at least by the end of three hours !!
Joe Hicks however, was in another world !!
While it seemed as forever, his between-pitch-routine had to have lasted a good two-minutes!! And this is no distortion of the truth. He would kick, scratch, then kick again the surface in the batter-box with his cleats. And then---to just make sure that he had that surface-area in the batter's box JUST RIGHT, he would raise to just the sole-portion of his cleats and do a couple of back-and forth spin-moves on them!! In between all of this foot-work, he would intermittently be tapping the near, and the far-walls, of Home-Plate with his baseball-bat !! And through all of this his batting average, at best, was mediocre. But all these years later, Joe Hicks is still so vividly remembered.
And then ~~~~~~ there is the very very vivid recollection of 1964; and the Duke Carmel/Curt Blefary Home-Run-Rivalry !!
..................work in Progress
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HICKOK
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