Bill began our airport shuttle ride clenching his cell phone with his Harley Davidson gloves. He then apologized. He momentarily thought his mom faced a problem, but she was OK.
He then sat behind the wheel of the Enterprise Rent-A-Car van and asked where we lived. We had traveled from Phoenix on business for a business video shoot. Bill, as custom requires, commented on Arizona’s heat then explained he frequently visits our state for golf.
He also once worked there, sort of. Bill explained in the late 1950s, for $25 a month, he played rookie ball for the San Francisco Giants organization. And that is when he encountered one of his life experiences he enjoys sharing with passengers he just met and won’t get to know very well.
In what sounded like a spring game that didn’t count, Bill was armed with his glove when the great Willie Mays stood over the plate. And although Mays’ legacy is that of a storied home run hitter, he made history, at least for Bill, for a far less significant swing of the bat.
The at-bat ended with a hit and Bill throwing him out. Bill says Mays later autographed a ball for him.
More than 50 years later, with a mixture of disco and 80s music playing above, Bill passionately shared his story while driving us to a car. A lack of perfect eyesight, he told us, prevented a long baseball career. But a game that didn’t count more than a half century ago counted a lot for Bill. And his tale made a short and otherwise routine ride from the airport a bit more memorable. And with no one else on the shuttle, we were a small crowd with a front row seat for Bill’s own historic and personal basement moment.