Sam Khalifa---1986
Serving as traveling secretary for the
Cincinnati Reds in the mid-1980s, I
was exposed to the various ways of
baseball throughout the National
League. It proved to be quite an eye-
opening experience after growing up
in the Chicago Area and only being
exposed to games at Wrigley Field
and Comisky Park.
One of the unusual things I noticed
during my first couple of trips to
Pittsburgh was that during the
games, newspaper boys roamed
Three Rivers Stadium and hawked
the afternoon edition of The
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. At Wrigley
and Comisky, I was used to kids
keeping score with their fathers, fans
sitting on the edge of their seats with
every pitch as the masses clapped in
unison with the organist and cheered
“we want a hit” during the game. Yet
in Pittsburgh I watched in amazement
as fans kicked back and rustled
through their newspaper while the
game was in progress.
While I thought it was odd at first, I
later came to realize that most of the
reading was done during Sam
Khalifa’s at bats.
Editor’s Note: Khalifa hit an anemic
.219 during parts of three seasons
with the Pirates from 1985-87.
(10/7/08)
Cincinnati Reds in the mid-1980s, I
was exposed to the various ways of
baseball throughout the National
League. It proved to be quite an eye-
opening experience after growing up
in the Chicago Area and only being
exposed to games at Wrigley Field
and Comisky Park.
One of the unusual things I noticed
during my first couple of trips to
Pittsburgh was that during the
games, newspaper boys roamed
Three Rivers Stadium and hawked
the afternoon edition of The
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. At Wrigley
and Comisky, I was used to kids
keeping score with their fathers, fans
sitting on the edge of their seats with
every pitch as the masses clapped in
unison with the organist and cheered
“we want a hit” during the game. Yet
in Pittsburgh I watched in amazement
as fans kicked back and rustled
through their newspaper while the
game was in progress.
While I thought it was odd at first, I
later came to realize that most of the
reading was done during Sam
Khalifa’s at bats.
Editor’s Note: Khalifa hit an anemic
.219 during parts of three seasons
with the Pirates from 1985-87.
(10/7/08)
