BUDDY COUSINS: BUY A TICKET ... TO A SPORTING EVENT? NOT ME!

By Buddy Cousins

 

I grew up in RVA, and we had NO MONEY. But that didn’t stop me from seeing every

sports event I wanted to attend. Sneaking into events took some skills and a lot of 

intangibles. 

Strawberry Hill, AKA RIR, was the easiest, and Parker Field, AKA The Diamond, was the most difficult. 

Most of the venues were easy. You simply had to get there early enough and just walk in.

If stopped, you told the person you were one of the grandstand vendors and asked where 

you needed to go. 

When Richmond had the AAA Virginians, they played the parent New York Yankees in

 an exhibition game each year at the end of spring training. It was an ‘Auto Skip’ day for

 me. 

One year Frog I, Mike, Dickie, and I were hanging outside the ticket booths because

sometimes people would give you a ticket. The booths were brick with chain link fences

on either side. Much the same as today. We got outside of the line of sight of the ticket

takers and waited until there were no cops around, and it was up and over. 

This particular day stuck in my mind because, after the game, the Yankees were boarding

their bus, and it didn’t have any A/C. To get any fresh air, the players were lowering the

windows. 

Hank Bauer leaned out his window, and Dickie jumped up, grabbed his cap, and took

off. Bauer’s first words were, “Come back here, you little SOB!” I was yelling, “RUN, 

DICKIE, RUN!!!” 

Yeah. I was ahead of my time. 

When the U of R played at The Arena -- a piece of cake to get into, West Virginia had a

warm-up routine, and we knew it by heart. After shooting some layups, the players would

peel off their warm-up tops and toss them to a manager who always wore a blue blazer,

khaki pants, and Weejuns. 

This one evening, one of our crew took the place of the manager. To the best of my

knowledge, he still has the warm-up jacket of the first black hoops player to attend WVU

hanging on a wall.  

Next time I’ll tell you a few tales about Strawberry Hill that you won’t believe either.

Till then…