Thanks much to Terrell Baldwin for sharing with me his Deadball-inspired moment he had with his son on a recent trip to San Francisco.

Here is Terrell’s story, interspersed with a few photos he took:

“I wanted to share with you an experience that my son and I had in San Francisco, California yesterday afternoon.

After reading your book, DEADBALL, I have thought a lot about some ballparks that I enjoyed as a young boy. Some of them still exist and some of them have been demolished. My family and I always visit the SF area for Christmas. My in-laws live in Berkeley so we are always looking for an adventure.

Plaque Honoring Seal Stadium, San Francisco CA

We decided to explore the mission District and look for Seals Stadium. We got off the BART train and headed East toward the location of Seals Stadium. When we climbed the small hill, I knew we were at the right spot, we were standing in front of DOUBLE PLAY bar and I began to tell my son about Seals Stadium. Less than a minute into the conversation, a man leaning on nearby newspaper vending machine started telling us about the Park.

Sign from Double Play Bar & Grill, Across the Street from Former Site of Seals Stadium

After visiting with the older Man for about five minutes, he suggested we go read the plaque on the opposite corner. We then crossed the street to view the plaque. As we approached the plaque, I turned to wave to the old man, and acknowledge that we had reached the correct spot. When I turned to wave he was gone!

I could not see the old man anywhere! I felt as if I was experiencing a DEADBALL moment. We took several pictures from all angles then headed over to DOUBLE PLAY to enjoy lunch and see some of the pictures that we had heard about inside the bar.

We entered the bar and began to look around, the bartender began telling us about the pictures, I then mentioned that the guy outside had told us about and described most of the pictures. The bartender then told us, that hardly anyone in the area knows much about it. He was very surprised to hear about an older man telling us about Seals Stadium.

I am going with the belief that the old man was Lefty O’Doul. I thought you might enjoy hearing about our adventure. We had a great time.”

Former Site of Seals Stadium, San Francisco CA

Terrell, thanks for taking the time to share your “Deadball Moment.” Here’s hoping there are more such moments to come.

DBS