Ah, September. Hockey season is still a month away. In the meantime we have the baseball pennant drives to keep us preoccupied.
Which reminds me of my favorite hockey/baseball story, as told by legendary broadcaster Dick Irvin Jr.
Irvin of course was the son of the legendary coach of the Montreal Canadiens and as such he essentially grew up with the Habs. In his autobiography "Now Back To You Dick," Irvin recalls an unusual summer softball game where Doug Harvey's competitive nature almost got the best of him:
"In the summer of 1952, the Canadiens played a softball game against the inmates at St. Vincent de Paul Penitentiary. I went along as the bat boy. (Doug) Harvey, a fine ball player, was the catcher. During the game, he got into a fierce nose-to-nose argument with the home-plate umpire. A couple of Harvey's teammates mumbled behind his back that maybe he should try being as aggressive on the ice. But they were duly put in their place when they found out the umpire was serving a life sentence for murder."
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