Top of the Inning
I’m loaded up and ready to take-off from Maguire AFB, headed for Rhein Main AB in Frankfort, Germany. Had a little hiccup in my travels, the airlines lost my luggage. They sent it all on a milk run into the plains states (Nebraska) instead of taking it off of the plane in Philadelphia. Now all my uniforms were in my luggage and I was to be in uniform on a military flight at midnight from Maguire. They delivered my bags to the military terminal and I had to change into my uniform in the airport bathroom sometime around 7:00pm. We took off on schedule as I remember it, and flew the “polar route”. They called it that even though we never flew over the north pole, but we did fly over Nova Scotia, the North Atlantic, then Scotland, England, France, and into Germany. It was a very long night. Although the 1945th Communications Group was at Rhein Main AB, my operating location in Bann, was just a few miles out of Ramstein AB. So I loaded my stuff onto a shuttle bus going from Rhein Main to Ramstein and off we went for another 2+ hours. When I arrived at the welcome center at Ramstein I called my supervisor TSgt. Bottomstone. Really, Charles (Rocky) Bottomstone! He got me settled into our room as he was my roommate.
The tech control office at Bann couldn’t have been more different from Andrews. We usually had one tech controller and one radio maintenance tech on duty after 5:00pm and all day on weekends. The busiest times were weekdays when the front office (3 people) and a civilian radio repair tech (Hans) were there with a 2 man staff of tech controllers and 1 or 2 radio repair techs. We probably had an average off 3 trouble tickets per day and most were issues at some distant station, not at Bann. Most days I was in contact with only one other tech control, Langerkopf (LKF). LKF was the headquarters for Detachment 25 of which I was one of three operating locations attached to it. Muhl was operating location ‘A’ (O/L A), I was operating location ‘B’ (O/L B) and Zugspitz was operating location ‘C’ (O/L C).
The middle picture above is of the Zugspitze many years after I was in Germany. It was a radio relay station then as well as the highest point in Germany, a popular tourist attraction that was accessible by gondola-type tram. I don’t know if the radio station is still operational but Langerkopf, Muhl, and Bann are closed as U.S. military installations.
Just as a note on the Zugspitze area, at the base of the mountain sits the city of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the home of the 1936 Winter Olympics. These were the last winter games before World War II.
I had arrived in Germany just a couple of months after the 1972 Munich Olympics, which you may remember were marred by terrorists killing the Israeli Olympic team. The group that claimed were affiliates of the Palestinian militant group “Black September”. All military installations raised the level of alert due to a fear that more attacks were imminent. When I arrived, there were two airmen armed with S&W 38 caliber revolvers and M-16’s were available if needed. Everyone was trained to protect the site, no matter what size the site was. Some nights, both airmen on duty were carrying weapons because we were too far from the base to expect quick assistance from the security police.
Ramstein AB
Ok, fast forward a couple of months after my arrival. I’m now in the barracks and beginning to know my way around the base fairly well and have met some friends that gather at the NCO club evenings to drink a little German beer and talk about everything in our lives. I meet a guy named George. As it happens, he was shipping back to the states in a month or so and he started talking about his stint with the Ramstein Rams baseball team. That’s right, baseball team! Now, I had played squadron level slow-pitch and fast-pitch softball at Andrews, and had joined the base-level fast pitch team at the end of the season, but I had no idea that baseball was being played in Germany. The Continental Sports Conference (CSC) was supporting the usual sports (softball, basketball, soccer, bowling, golf, and tennis) as well as baseball and “tackle” football. I had to try-out for the baseball team as soon as practices started in February or March.
Practices went well and I made the team as a corner outfielder. There were quite a few returning players from last years second place team who had lost to the Wiesbaden Flyers. But we had gained two very significant players from that Flyers team because the organization of USAFE had moved from Wiesbaden to Ramstein over the winter. We now had the best player I had ever played with on our team, Darryl Y., was our catcher and Jimmy S., was a very solid pitcher. The best “rookie” we had was Steve D., the best left-handed pitching first baseman in the league and there were some pretty good players in the league. Remember, this was the time of the draft and many of the players had tried to play professional ball but had not made the MLB team so they were prime for the draft.
In 1973, my first year, the league was divided into two divisions even though there were 9 teams. Our division was Sembach Tigers, Zweibrucken Warriors, Hahn Hawks, the Torrejon Toros, and us, the Ramstein Rams. The other division included the Rhein Main Rockets, Bitburg Barons, Spangdahlem Sabre’s and the Wiesbaden Flyers. The next year, because of the cost of fuel, Torrejon was dropped from the league so each division had 4 teams. We also played the German National and Dutch National teams in exhibition game both in Germany and in Amsterdam as well as a tournament in Rotterdam against two very good teams from the Feyenoord Soccer Club’s baseball and the Sparta Soccer Club’s baseball teams.
The Rams won the pre-season tournament that year. Swept right through the games. Then the regular season started with us visiting Sembach. The schedule was written that on weekends that you played a team in your own division, you’d play a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday. Doubleheaders were made up of a 7-inning game first, followed by a regular 9-inning game. All other games were standard length. Weekends against non-division foes were one game on Saturday and one game on Sunday. We were undefeated through the pre-season but Sembach ambushed us that first game. We only lost 3 games during the regular season, good enough to get us into the championship tourney, a double-elimination tournament. On the final day of play, we were undefeated and playing Wiesbaden for the championship. All we needed was to win one more game. But the Flyers were a very good team. In fact, they were the returning champions from last year (1972). They beat us the first game so we were both with one loss. It was now win or go home. I’m sure the ride home for Wiesbaden was a very long ride. We scored a few runs and made some needed defensive plays at the right time and walked away as the Military World Series Champions! What a great bunch of guys! I will remember that season forever!
The Rams repeated as champions in 1974, just didn’t have the same won/loss record as the year before. We had lost many of the starting lineup from the year before but had gotten some very talented replacements like Paul L., and Danny P. Again we had won the pre-season tourney and our division during the regular season, and again we won the double-elimination championship tourney at the end of the season. It was another great year with the retuning players and the new.
That off-season was very slow. Couldn’t wait to get back in February to start our practices. But the team was again going through many changes. Steve D., and I were the only returning players from that first championship teams. We were grateful that Paul L., and Danny P., were returning and that we had picked up a couple of stars from the bases fast-pitch team from previous years, Mel M., and Don K. We also found a great hitting pitcher/outfielder in Steve R. Again, we won the preseason tourney and the regular season for our division, but Rhein Main had won the other division. Unlike the previous two years when we met Wiesbaden in the finals, the rivalry between us and Rhein Main was more like New York and Boston. We didn’t like each other. The league offices had also made changes to the post-season tournament, this year it was a best-of-five match between the two division champs. It was the Rams against the Rockets.
The first games were played at home. We Split the double-header. Sundays game was played at Rhein Main and again, we lost. It was an ugly loss and my coach and I had not seen eye-to-eye on a couple of things. I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had benched me for the rest of the tourney. Then something terrible happened. As I recall, two of the Rhein Main starters had gone to a local swimming hole after their practice early that week. I don’t know what actually happened but one of them drowned and the other was fortunate to make it to shore. The survivor was unable to play those last two games.
The following Saturday, we played at Rhein Main. There was a ceremony before the game. The wife of the late player was there for a dedication and we all wore black arm bands. I know that it all affected us, the Rams, but I’m sure it was tougher for the Rockets. Somehow, the game was played and we won. To be honest, I don’t even remember the score. I was just glad to leave that field. It was a very bittersweet victory. The next day, we did it all again, this time at our home field. Yes, there was a pre-game ceremony, the widow was honored, flags were lowered to half-staff and like at Rhein Main, Elton John’s “Rocket Man” was played before the “National Anthem”. Once again, the Rams prevailed, winning our third championship in a row. We just didn’t celebrate like we would have at another time.
For me, there wasn’t a fourth year. I received orders to report to Norton AFB, San Bernardino, CA in February. I shipped out of Germany exact 3 years, 3 months, and 3 days after I had arrived. I got to travel a little in Europe and have some very fond memories of people I had worked with and played with and against. Now I was headed home to the states and my next adventure.
Bottom of the Inning
The flights from Frankfort, Germany to JFK International Airport, New York and then to Detroit Metropolitan Airport were virtually uneventful, except that when the taxi driver threw my over-filled duffle bag into the trunk of his cab, a 16-pound bowling ball came out of the top of the bag and bounce about 10 feet down the road. I won’t try to describe the look I got from said cabbie. But he said nothing, verbally. I had to take that cab from customs at the international terminal to the domestic departure terminal for my flight to Detroit. I was off again, but for a relatively short hop home.
Mom, Dad, and my sister met me at the luggage pick-up. It had been snowing most of the day so the roads were slow and parking at the airport was justifiably difficult to find. The weather was quite chilly so all the close parking spots were taken or being waited for by people picking up their arriving passengers. The drive home took about two hours because of the wet and snowy roads. It seemed longer that that but we finally made it home. Just like my leave during my tech school, it seemed like home yet it didn’t at the same time. I stayed there for about three weeks and then headed to California. It was February and I remember driving through some pretty tough weather. The worst stretch was entering Missouri. For the next day I encountered icy roads that forced me to drive at a speed of about 30 miles per hour (MPH) for most of the day. I remember staying in Tucumcari, New Mexico one night. It was a little cabin-like in route to Flagstaff, Arizona. It snowed that night pretty heavily. Travel the next day was beautiful. The mountains were covered with white snow and the roads had been cleared by the time I got started. Flagstaff had received about a foot of snow during the day and night before. It was a long drive but I made it all the way to Norton AFB that day. Keeping in mind that much of that route was two-lane divided highway because the interstates weren’t complete in 1976 through most of New Mexico and parts of Arizona. I drove straight through that day because the weather report said they were expecting another snow storm, and I just didn’t want to go through that again.
After driving through the altitude of Flagstaff, well it was all down hill from there. Temperatures started climbing as the altitude dropped. Mountain views turned into red rock formations and then dessert, and then finally palm tree lined streets and 70 degree temperatures. All this in about four hundred miles. Once again, I’m in a new place, I don’t know where anything is but I need to report before I’m considered absent without leave (AWOL), so I find the CBPO office and check in. They direct me to the 1964th Communications Squadron, and I get a room in the barracks. That took most of the day so I’m down for the count.
It wasn’t long before I met my OIC. He informed me that I would need a special security clearance to work in the Autodin Tech Control and that would take most of a year to get the vetting done by the FBI. The problem was, I only had about 9 months left to my enlistment. I was schedule to get out on November 2nd. So, he assigned me to the M.A.R.S. station. That was the Military and Affiliate Radio Station on base. I had been interested in Ham Radio since I was in High School because of my best friend John S., so I wasn’t unhappy about that appointment. I took the classes (self learning), passed the Morse Code test and got my novice ham radio license, WN8AQY. Being assigned as a member at the MARS station afforded me more privileges than my license did. A novice license only gave me certain frequencies to work and more power restrictions so I was able to work the station like any higher level licensee. It was a fun job, but not very busy. Radio communications were used much except during natural disasters like hurricanes or earthquakes and lately large wildfires. I remember they were a big deal during hurricane Camille when I was at Keesler. I was glad to be there.
Being in Southern California opened up opportunities to follow my love for baseball again. Although I was playing squadron fast-pitch softball and base level slow-pitch softball (and bowling again), I missed baseball. Of course, there was no baseball at bases in the states so I had to return to visiting MLB ballparks, and I was in a perfect location to attend game at Dodger Stadium and the ‘Big A’, Anaheim Stadium, and I did. Dodger Stadium was just an hour and a half drive and the ‘Big A’ was just a little bit further. Anaheim was a good place to follow the Tigers as they were both American League teams. Unlike today, the leagues did not play each other until they met in the World Series. I don’t remember if I ever saw the Tigers vs. Angels but I’d have to say I did at some point. As far as hot dogs go, they weren’t memorable! On the other hand, being from Detroit, I didn’t get a chance to see all the great National League players in person like Mays, Aaron, or Drysdale, so this was my big chance, so I went there a number of times. I listened to Vin Scully and Ross Porter. More importantly, I got a chance to have one of the highly regarded “Dodger Dogs” at the ballpark. I hated them. I tried them a couple of different trips to the stadium, hoping I had just gotten a bad one, but nope, I didn’t like them. Sorry Dodger fans!
Well, November came and I was discharged from the Air Force. I didn’t head back to Michigan as I thought I would do back in February when I decided I would get out for reasons I won’t get into now, maybe some other blog, but I stayed in the San Bernardino area working at a general merchandise store called FedMart. I worked as a Greeter/Security Guard and then a night stocker before an opportunity arrived that my experiences in the service could benefit the company. I applied and got the position of Store Coordinator of Ordering and Receiving Entities or S.C.O.R.E., or Score Coordinator. I was moving to San Diego, California, home of FedMart. My military game and this “ballgame” was ending but a new life and game were just beginning.