Chapter 1970
Roundy
I did not think to save my ticket stub from Opening Day 1970. So imagine the thrill when I found this treasure while rummaging through a box of stuff at a baseball collectibles show in 2022, more than 50 years after my first Opening Day! A ticket stub from that very game on the same level of RFK Stadium where we were sitting!
Detroit’s All-Star catcher Bill Freehan looks on in disbelief as 22-year-old Morganna “The Kissing Bandit” disrupts the bottom of the first inning as she attempts to hug and kiss Senators slugger Frank “Hondo” Howard. Opening Day 1970 in Washington marked one of the first times Morganna orchestrated such an encounter. Over the next 30 years, she enhanced her career as an exotic dancer by targeting famous athletes.
I was the youngest of six children. Dad was 45 when I was born. Yes, that’s me on my mother’s knee.
Roundy loved big events, like Washington’s first Super Bowl in January 1973. I saved money I earned delivering newspapers so he could take me to see the Miami Dolphins complete the only undefeated season. Yes, he wore a coat and tie to the game, and made me wear a jacket, too.
Saturday, August 9, 1969 was “Autograph Day” at RFK. The line to get Frank “Hondo” Howard’s signature was way too long, so I tried to get pitcher Jim Hannan’s attention. It was my ninth birthday. The game day party with friends was fun, but the greatest gift came in the second inning. “The Capital Punisher” hit a baseball farther than any little boy could have imagined.
