by Michael Ceraolo
Herb Score
No tragedy here,
just one of those unfortunate incidents
that are sometimes part of the game:
Gil’s line drive didn’t end my career,
though I was out for the rest of the season;
it was arm trouble that did me in
And if I hadn’t been a player
I never would have become a broadcaster
I have to thank Bob Neal,
my first broadcast partner;
he never made me look bad
while I was learning on the job,
and I had a steep learning curve
Gil McDougald
I’m glad Herb doesn’t blame me;
I couldn’t have continued if he did,
or if that had ended his career
I think it did affect me;
I wasn’t as good a hitter afterward
A few years later I heard rumors
the Yankees were going to leave me unprotected
in the upcoming expansion draft,
so I said I would retire
rather than go to another teams
Yankee management feared this was a threat
to their absolute control and said so publicly
I think they were greatly surprised
when I stayed retired