Caprock Chronicles: Russell, Moose and Our Field of Dreams, Part Three

Editor’s Note: Jack Becker is the editor of Caprock Chronicles and is a Librarian Emeritus from Texas Tech University. He can be reached at jack.becker@ttu.edu. Today’s article about Bill Russell and Moose Skowron’s 2003 visit to Lubbock is the last of a three-part series by frequent contributor Chuck Lanehart, Lubbock attorney and award-winning history writer. In Part One, Chuck was paired with Russell in a Lubbock golf tournament. In Part Two, Chuck’s wife Paula was paired with Moose Skowron.

"Morals have nothing to do with baseball." — Moose Skowron

As my wife Paula scooted about the Rawls Course with baseball legend Moose Skrowron, he continued with his story-telling.

Moose’s teammate Mickey Mantle owned a fantasy baseball camp in Florida. After Mickey’s death in 1995, his sons did not want to run it. Moose, Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, Tony Kubek, Clete Boyer, Don Larsen and others took over and ran the camp for years. The fee was $4,000 for a week with baseball legends, and 84 participants had already signed up for the 2004 camp.

The Yanks had an afternoon game. Mickey — a notorious party animal — pulled an all-nighter and showed up at the park hung over. In his first at-bat, he couldn't see the ball, and the umpire called a strike. Mickey was known for being even-mannered and never yelling at the ump, so everyone was surprised when he raised hell and got thrown out of the game. It was the only time he tanked, but he knew he couldn't play that day, and the team would be wasting an at-bat if he stayed in. Everyone liked Mickey. He played when he was hurt and played when he was sick. His teammates could always count on Mickey.

In 1962, Mickey’s legendary speed in the outfield began to diminish, and he was moved to first base, so Moose was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Moose hated the Dodgers and did not play well his first year with LA, but the Dodgers beat the Yankees in the World Series that season.

Moose earned four World Series rings with the Yankees and one with the Dodgers. He never wore the Dodgers' ring on his finger and said it was for sale. Paula told him it was probably worth a lot because it was much more rare than a Yankees’ ring. Moose gave each of his two sons a Yankees’ World Series ring that might be sold in a financial bind. Both sons are very successful, and all rings remain in the family.

Moose thought Pete Rose probably bet on games involving his own team, but "Pete deserves to be in the Hall of Fame," Moose said. "Morals have nothing to do with baseball."

Moose played for the Yankees, Dodgers, Washington Senators and Chicago White Sox before retiring with the California Angels in 1967. After he retired, Moose worked for the White Sox in public relations. Part of his job was to appear at bank openings and similar events to sign autographs. Moose said they paid him a couple of thousand bucks for signing autographs for a couple of hours. "Good money!" Another baseball legend, Johnny Bench, wouldn't sign autographs at The Rawls Course Opening Event, and that made Moose mad. “Why would Bench act like that? Why come to a celebrity tournament and be a jerk?”

Moose signed anything anyone handed him, and he would stop in the middle of his swing to be accommodating.

Moose didn’t claim to be a good golfer. "I play like horse hockey," he told a local sports radio interviewer. "But this lady judge named Paula is on my team, and she's really good!" He carried only seven golf clubs: five woods, a Japanese chipping iron called a Samurai, and a putter. He said he didn’t play much golf and said he probably should not play at all.

Everyone wound up the evening with a big dinner. There was quality entertainment by former Harlem Globetrotter Marquis Haynes, comedian Lonnie Shorr, singer/actor/Lubbock native Mac Davis, and the legendary country singer Charley Pride, all of whom had participated in the golf tournament.

At dinner, I visited with my new best golf buddy Bill Russell, jokingly threatening to sue him if he wouldn't sign an autograph for me. He wouldn't. I dined at another table with Paula and her new best golf buddy, Moose Skowron. Our table was like a celebrity magnet — Country Music Hall of Famer Charley Pride sat down to visit with his pal Moose, so I got to visit with Charley for a half-hour. What a down-to-earth, regular guy Charley Pride was! Actor Tom Arnold, Texas Tech basketball coach Bob Knight, Texas Tech Athletic Director Gerald Meyers and many others came by to pay their respects to Moose.

Following the tournament, Paula and Moose traded letters and photos via snail mail. In 2012, Moose died at age 81 in Illinois. Bill Russell died at age 88 in July of 2022.

Paula and I will always remember this great adventure as our personal field of dreams.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Caprock Chronicles: Russell, Moose and Our Field of Dreams, Part Three