Ripken in the Minors

RITM: Individuals who remember going to games at Crockett during your tenure refer to you as a fan favorite. What was it about your relationship with the fans at Charlotte that made them love you so much?

Cat Whitfield: I always took time to talk to people and to sign autographs. Now a lot of guys did. I’m not saying I was the only one. To this day I see Cal’s handlers quote unquote say “Cal we’ve got to go” because he will sign until the last person gets what they want. I used to make sure that I spoke to people. I was also one of the few players that stayed here during the winter. I didn’t disappear. I was active in the community. Vicky and I were always trying to do charitable things. I would speak at churches and always refer to the Crockett Park fans as the greatest fans in the world. I can remember getting thrown out of a game for fighting. I took my shower and went up in the stands. I would sit for a couple of batters with this group of people and then I’d walk over and sit with this group. If I ever got thrown out I would go up and sit with people.

During batting practice I used fathers who would bring their sons during batting practice, kids seven or eight through 15. Somebody would hot a foul ball over and I’d say, “This ball doesn’t look like it has much life left in it. Why don’t you take it and finish it up for us”. I was always trying to give stuff away. I asked Jimmy if I could bring some people out on the field. He said, “Cat you have to stand right next to them and can’t let anything happen.” I would see a daughter or son and ask the father if I could bring them out on the field. “You can do that?” “Yeah” and I’d reach over and set them down. I’d say, “Let’s go stand behind shortstop. Get your glove.” How that made me feel! I used to say in my prayers at night, “Lord if it never gets anything more than this I really appreciate the fact because I was that kid and if that were to happen to me and now you’ve put me in the position where I can do that for some kid. I don’t know how good it makes the father feel but I’m just glad that I can do that.” After awhile it would be a group of kids and they’re going, “Cat, pick me!” That’s when I started going, “You’re breaking my heart! I can’t take all of you out there because I can’t physically defend all of you.” I’d say, “You, you and you” and always give them a ball or something. Then when I’d take them back I’d spend time with the ones I couldn’t take out. I appreciated those people coming and I appreciated the obvious respect they gave me.  I wanted to make sure that they knew that I respected them too.

RITM: As part of the Charlotte community just how large of a loss was it when Crockett Park burned down?

Cat Whitfield: It was a huge loss. It was like a funeral. When I got word that it had burned down I was like, “You have got to be kidding me!” “How much was left”? “Cat there is nothing left.” “Oh my…” If they would’ve said to me Crockett Park burned down to the ground. Also, the White House burned to the ground. I would go, “You’ve got to be kidding me. Tell me about Crockett Park!” I dropped what I was doing and went there immediately. They were still hosing that thing down and cleaning up. There were as many people there as if there was a game there. There were people everywhere. I was walking through the crowd and looking at everything. I remember that burn smell. It was wet nasty. It was a tragedy and people still talk about it. It’s like, “That was the year Crockett Park burned down”. “What year did you get married?” “I got married the year Crockett Park burned down to the ground. It’s like Hugo came through here. People associate things with tragedy. Now time is moving on and marching forward. Being a salesman I go out on leads to sell porches and decks for Archidech. I’ll go up to a half a million dollar house with a couple that is 35 or so and ask if they remember Crockett Park. “No” and I’m thinking “What!?!?! When did you come to Charlotte?” It’s always offensive to me. You don’t remember it? There’s a whole generation that’s moved here after the fact and all they know is the Charlotte Knights in Fort Bell. They do not know there was all that history here. You can go into Pittsburgh and find someone who doesn’t know the Pirates exist. Based on what my dad and I talk about maybe they shouldn’t!

RITM: 17 consecutive losing seasons this year?

Cat Whitfield: Unbelievable and that’s all I ever wanted to be was a Pirate.

RITM: You were part of the WBTV sponsored blue bordered set in 1980. Do you remember anything about the process of producing the cards? Do you remember anything about the night they were given out or anything associated with the cards?

Cat Whitfield: Very little but I do have some memory of it. I remember them saying they were going to do these cards. Who knew that they were going to end up being what they are today. We were going to put our uniforms on and take this team picture, take individual pictures and the Pepper Girls. I remember contemplating if I should wear my glasses or not. I thought that people always see me in them when I play so I’m going to wear them. That’s about all I remember of the taking of the pictures.

The night they handed them out was no different from any other night as far as a player. We were all aware that it was baseball card night. After the night was over there were several extra cases and Frances put them in the clubhouse. I grabbed like ten packs just to have it because I knew that I was always going to be where I could hand them out to my friends and my sister and my college team guys. I thought it was some net thing that I could give away or add to the Christmas present that year. I literally gave them all away. No I had to have taken more than ten because I remember opening at least four or five packs, pulling my card out, and throwing the rest of the cards away. Then I would just send my card in a letter or Christmas card to friends to the point that my sister has a pack today that’s opened. My dad has a pack that’s opened and a pack that’s unopened. He brought the opened one to the ’80 reunion and got everybody to sign their card. So he has two packs. One unopened and one opened with signatures.

RITM: Was it a small crowd that night? Marshall Hester did not remember the crowd being a large crowd that night.

Cat Whitfield: I don’t remember. I do remember that there was a lot of cards leftover. How many do you want? I don’t remember if it was a bad crowd or not. Marshall may very well be correct.

RITM: In addition to the WBTV set the Charlotte Police Department sponsored an orange bordered set. Were any of the players aware they had done these cards?

Cat Whitfield: I had no idea those cards were done until a year or two ago. I just knew of the WBTV cards.

RITM: You were the first baseball player inducted in the Alderson-Broaddus Hall of Fame. How big of an honor was it when they called to tell you?

Cat Whitfield: It was extremely significant. It meant a lot to me and I’ll tell you why.  Alderson-Broaddus College is obviously a small Baptist college stuck in the hills of Philippi, West Virginia. It has always been very strong in basketball and soccer with a decent baseball team. I came there from Garrett Community Collge in McHenry, Maryland, and transferred in as a Junior. It was because of playing against Alderson-Broaddus College that I got to meet the coach. I was just captured by Jack Funk. He just seemed like he could be my father. Of course I’m young and impressionable. I played summer baseball in Sandusky, Ohio, trying to decide where I was going to transfer to. I waited too long and everybody had filled their rosters. If there was any scholarship money to give out they’d already given it out. I called Coach Funk. He had been in touch with me and obviously wanted me to be there but I said I was undecided. I called and said, “Coach, if you want me to come I’d love to come and play for you”.

Me and my parents went down there and I played my Junior year for Alderson-Broaddus and for Coach Jack Funk. We did pretty well. We didn’t win anything but I set like a ton of records. A couple I’m told still stand. He never had a shortstop that could hit a homerun and I hit like 14 or 15, 17 or something like that. I got drafted after that. After that Junior year when summer came I went back out to Sandusky, Ohio, to play in this summer league that I had been playing in out there. It was a good league and they played like 85 games a summer. I didn’t know of any place that did that. I just wanted to play baseball and be seen.  We had a pitcher on that team at Alderson Broaddus named Steve Lesser who was eventually drafted by the Orioles. There was a scout from the scouting bureau who watched us some. Dick Bowie, a guy from the Orioles, came to see Steve pitch. Coach pulled the guy aside and said, “Steve is a great pitcher and everything and I don’t know if you are looking for infielders but there’s a guy playing in Sandusky, Ohio, that played for me. You need to see this kid.” He promoted me to the point where he came out and saw me without me knowing he was there then they drafted me in the 21^st round. A lot of it was because of Jack Funk’s salesmanship. Steve Lesser and I were drafted. Steve played the rookie league season and got released and I continued on all those years.

After Bluefield I went back to A & B to continue my education. I was fortunate because they had four 10 week terms instead of regular college semesters so I was able to get that winter 10 weeks in between the end of the season and spring training and I got my degree in education. My roommate that whole time was this kid from Elkins, West Virginia, named J.D. Long. He was a pitcher/first baseman. I loved the kid. He was a Freshman coming in when I was a Junior. He just didn’t know nothing about life or anything. It seemed that no matter what we did I was teaching him. I’m not talking about baseball. “This is how you act when you are eating in front of people”. “J.D., we are going to the Valentine’s Dance. You can’t wear those shoes!” Coach Funk had a daughter named Linda who was a Senior in High School. J.D. goes, “Cat, what do you think about Linda Funk?” “I think she’s pretty good looking but I can be her dad!” I said, “You better be careful because that’s the coach’s daughter but I think she’s a good girl and I know you’re a good kid. Heck, you don’t know how to do bad things”. As time went on he asked her out. They’ve been married to this day with three beautiful daughters. I saw them in March when Coach Funk passed away. The memorial service was schedule at the college Chapel at Alderson Broaddus. They had to move it to the Coliseum. That’s how many people came and they were not all baseball players. That guy was a great man, a great great man. He meant the world to me.

Once he graduated J.D. started teaching at one of the schools in Philippi. We would talk maybe once every two years or if they were coming to Myrtle Beach we might see each other. He started, “Cat it’s not fair that that you can’t even be in the Hall of Fame I found out”. “What Hall of Fame?” “Alderson-Broaddus.” “They have a Hall of Fame? Where is it?” “Well they haven’t really ever assembled one. It’s on paper. They’re going to do at least a room or something but the rules state you have to play at least two seasons and attend the college for two years. You played one season and got drafted so you were ineligible to play your senior year.” He said, “It’s funny because you hold like every record there.” Sometimes life turns bad. Sometimes it turns good. Over the years J.D. works his way back to the college and he’s now a college professor. Then he works his way up to coaching women’s volleyball. Now he’s worked his way up to where he’s the Athletic Director at Alderson Broaddus College. Now he calls a special Hall of Fame meeting and he stands up and says, “Here’s an article from the Bluefield newspaper. Here’s one from the Miami Herald. Here’s one from the Charlotte news. Here’s one from the Charlotte Observer. Here’s one from the paper in Rochester. Here’s one from the Baltimore Sun. Do you see what they all say; Alderson Broaddus College. He was more of a diplomat for our college than anybody ever. He went on with this political Richard Nixon type thing. At the end of it they all voted and said, “Put him in.” so they broke or bent the rule and put me in the Hall of Fame. That meant the world to me. Of course back then Jack Funk is still alive and everything’s great.

We went up to the Hall of Fame dinner. My dad came down and my aunt. I found out it was like a $100 a plate dinner. I went over to Coach Funk and I said, “Coach, we don’t have 300 bucks.” He goes, “Cat, you don’t have to pay!” Of course all the money went to athletics. It was a wonderful night. That night I told them a story that was probably when it comes to that college the dearest story to my heart. We were on a bus trip one time. It was AA. I had my headphones on and I was listening to Black Foot being a rocker. One of the guys tapped me on the shoulder and I pulled my headphones down. They said, “Cat, what was the name of that college you went to? Was it like Adlason Blabbus or something?” I turned around and I go, “What are you guys doing?”

“We’re just talking about where we came from.”

“It’s Alderson-Broaddus”

“What was the town? It was like Flightville or Flippo?”

“No, Philippi, West Virginia”

“That must be a huge place, Cat” and they’d all laugh.

“I went to the University of Miami. Did you have an electronic scoreboard?”

“No the coach’s wife stood up between the innings and would just yell out the score.”

That was the truth.

“Did they have plastic seats or bleachers?”

“No you sat in this bank next to the road.”

Russ Brett goes, “So if somebody like blew a tie rod or had a flat tire they could’ve wiped out the whole crowd?”

“Absolutely.”

“Did you have Astroturf or grass infield?”

“Dirt.”

I saw that they were having fun at my expense and I went along with it because most of the time I had fun at their expense. Before any of them would ask me “What was yours like?” they would tell me what theirs was at Clemson or Arizona State. They would explain how nice theirs was.

“So Cat what about your fence?”

“It was a snow fence.”

“Did it have how many feet it was?”

“No it was just a snow fence.”

“You could’ve been hitting 200 foot homeruns. How do we know?”

“It was in the little program.”

“Oh you had a program!”

They were just getting on me. At one point when I thought I couldn’t take it any more I said, “It’s true. I didn’t go to a college that was as well scouted or as nice and had the facilities you had. As far as my education Alderson-Broaddus isn’t that well known. I didn’t play as many games as you guys or have the baseball reputation but I want you to know something right now. I’m on the same bus as you are.” I remember Russ Brett because he was the one after me the most. He said, “You know what the kid’s got a point. Tomorrow who’s gonna be on this bus and I know he’s been on this bus for three years. I’ve been with him since Bluefield and he’s here every year.”

When I told that story at that Hall of Fame thing the place went crazy when I said, “…but I’m on the same bus as you.” It’s turned out to be something I use in my life in different scenarios where I don’t have to explain all of that. If you just say to someone, “Yeah, but I’m on the same bus as you.” If someone is trying to elevate themselves over you but you’re both in the same situation it’s irrelevant.

A year later they finally got my plaque and my bronze thing. Sure enough Coach Funk’s wife Judy found a picture of me that she happened to like. That was back in the days of Mike Schmidt playing third for the Phillies with that permanent, that afro look. I figured wow that’s easier to care for so I went one weekend while I was at college and I had a perm put in my hair. So I had this Mike Schmidt look and it couldn’t have been for two months. She used that picture on that bronze thing and I look like Mike Brady of the Brady Bunch.

RITM: Not a lot of people can say that they were a teammate of two different Hall of Famers from two different sports. What’s your connection with Joe Montana?

Cat Whitfield: Joe and I grew up together. Obviously Joe played football and I didn’t play high school football. I played what would be called Pop Warner. We were on the same team then. During the school seasons we would play against each other but in the summer league we were on the same team. Because we were both decent athletes we did other things like play street hockey and football. We played tackle football back then. There was no such thing as flag football or if there was we didn’t know about it. We certainly wouldn’t have played it. We were all the sons of mill workers. If it snowed enough, five to six inches, we would play tackle in the street. If it wasn’t snow we’d play up at the preacher’s yard. It was just all out tackle football, no pads, which I know was not exclusive to us. We would go to American Legion baseball practice and someone would have a football. Somebody would say, “I think Cat can throw It farther than Joe” and Joe would go, “No he can’t” so we’d heave it and somebody would stand down there where it hit. There was a period of years where I could throw it farther than him but he was a pitcher on our team and he could throw faster than me. It was weird. I used to always tell him, “I’m going to be in the big leagues before you’re ever in the NFL”. It was just a thing between us and we all know how that turned out. We were friends and we did a lot of things together. Once he went to Notre Dame and I went to Garrett Community College we kind of lost touch although we followed each other. I remember getting a call from Mr. Montana about congratulations on being drafted. That was pretty much it. I’ve talked to him since, obviously, but we’re not in close communication only because it’s so hard to get hold of those guys. Joe Montana and Cal Ripken I know them both.