jews d

in
the

Learn about
senior living
at Fox Run.

Request your FREE brochure
from the premier retirement
community in Novi. Get the facts
about our vibrant lifestyle,
stylish apartment homes,
expert health care, and
so much more!

12622691

There’s no risk in learning more!
Call 1-800-917-8169 or
visit FoxRunNovi.com .

Novi | FoxRunNovi.com

D.C.

WISHING
EVERYONE A
HAPPY & HEALTHY
NEW YEAR

42

September 6 • 2018

jn

Better
Late Than
Never

The 50-year wait
for Game 5 of the
1968 World Series.

A

gainst the backdrop of all
that transpired in our city
and our nation in 1967 and
1968, this is a story of two teenage
boys, whose young lives revolved
around the Detroit Tigers.
Like so many others, they were
heartbroken when the Tigers
missed the 1967 World Series after
splitting back-to-back doubleheaders
on the last two days of the season.
The ’68 Tigers
were different.
Denny McLain
won 31 games, and
the team wrapped
up the American
League Pennant on
Sept. 17. A 267-day
newspaper strike
kept the Detroit Free
Michael
Freedman
Press and Detroit
Special To The
News from provid-
Jewish News
ing daily coverage
until mid-August —
but there was always Ernie Harwell
on the radio. Ultimately, the Tigers
would win 103 regular-season games
and prepare for their first World
Series, as Harwell said, “since nine-
teen-hundred and forty-five!”
The fondest wish of Tiger fans was
to attend a World Series game. And
the Tigers accommodated by offer-
ing a lottery for seats.
The two boys, who lived on the
same block in Oak Park, optimisti-
cally mailed away a self-addressed,
stamped envelope — and waited.
And then the unbelievable hap-
pened.
The envelope came back. Inside
were two tickets. Upper deck box
seats. Game 5 of the 1968 World
Series. Face value: $12 apiece.
Now the boys faced a tough deci-
sion. Both came from families of
modest means, and when word got
around that they had tickets, some-
one offered $100 for the pair. One
hundred dollars. In 1968, $100 was a
mortgage payment.
The two teens did the right thing.
They knew it then, and they know it
now.
So, Game 5 of the 1968 World
Series went on without the two boys
present. It was the game in which
Willie Horton threw a perfect one-

ABOVE: The photocopy
of the 1968 envelope and ticket. TOP: Robert
Pliskow of Huntington Woods with Mickey
Lolich at an event last month. Pliscow and
Freedman will be at the Tigers game Sept. 8.

hopper to Bill Freehan who blocked
Lou Brock from scoring. It was the
game in which Jose Feliciano sang
an unconventional version of the
National Anthem that nearly cost
Ernie Harwell his job. It was the
game that turned the tide for the
Tigers and propelled them to a world
championship.
The two teens, who cheered from
afar that day, grew up, married,
raised families, built careers and
welcomed their first grandchildren.
One moved east some 30 years ago;
one stayed in Detroit. Over time, they
lost touch.
Until last week.
That’s when one of the boys
located the other and, after so many
years, sent a text message suggesting
they attend the game together as a
once-in-a-lifetime “make good.”
His boyhood friend responded
enthusiastically — attaching a digi-
tal picture of a tattered photocopy
a half-century old. The top-half
showed a self-addressed, stamped
envelope with very familiar printing
and a canceled 6-cent stamp. Below
was a 1968 World Series ticket. Game
5. Upper deck box seat. Face value:
$12.
On Sept. 8, when the Tigers com-
memorate the 50th anniversary
of the 1968 World Series, the two
boys, now in their 60s, will be there
together to thank their 1968 Tigers
for a magical, memorable season.
And somewhere above, their parents
will be smiling.
It’s been a long wait. And this time,
their tickets are not for sale. •

Michael Freedman teaches journalism at
George Washington University in Washington,

