Perspective Series

LEADING OFF
Not a Bitter Old Man

By Robert Hanashiro, Sports Shooter Newsletter

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Bitter Old Men. That’s the expression a good friend of mine has for former ballplayers that are angry they missed out on the age of multi-million dollar contracts, non-stop TV highlights and the bright lights of the celebrity beyond sports.

At age 76, Eli Grba is not one.

Fifty years removed from pitching the first game for the Los Angeles Angels (when they really played in LA), Grba threw out the first pitch recently for the team’s home opener.

And he was happy just to be there.

To mark the 50th anniversary of baseball’s first expansion, I was assigned to photograph Grba the day before his return to the mound for the Angels. You have to love a guy whose voice mail message begins with a ballpark organ playing “Take Me Out To The Ball Game” --- which I discovered when I called him to set up a time to pick him up at an Anaheim hotel.

Grba was the first player selected by the Angels in baseball’s expansion draft, plucked off the Yankees’ roster after going 6-4 and throwing in the 1961 World Series.

Driving over to Angel Stadium, Grba said he was amazed that USA TODAY wanted to take his photograph, between telling me stories about the ’60 – ’61 Angels.

When we approached the stadium, huge banners dangled from poles, commemorating the Angels 50th anniversary. As we drove through the main entrance Grba looked at the banners and shook his head, there was his photo along with fan favorites like Jim Fregosi, Nolan Ryan and Don Baylor.

As we walked around the stadium, Grba talked about his days playing for manager Bill Rigney with the likes of Albi Pearson, Steve Bilko and Leon Wagner, taking snapshots with his cell phone along the way. The Angels lost 91 games that first season, 8th place in the AL (way before division play).

Grba lit up even more as he talked about the ’62 season (especially stories about teammate Bo Belinsky), when the Angels were the talk of baseball, staying in the pennant race until the final weeks of the season, finishing 85-76 good for third place.

And then in 1963 at 28, he was out of the Major Leagues. But 50 years later, he’s not out of fond memories and smiles.

As Grba and I walked through the Angels’ gift shop, looking for a retro cap for him to wear for my portrait, I introduced him to clerks and fans as “The Original Angel”…and his smile got even bigger, not a hint of bitterness.