Looking back on it, growing up in Pampa was a boy’s dream come true. I can’t speak for the girls, but the few I knew seemed to always have something to do!
This is a story about the time I was ten (1946) and baseball was first on my list of things to do. That summer my dad came home after a hot, dusty day working in the Texas Panhandle oil fields and ask Mom and me if we would like to go see a donkey baseball game. I’d never heard of such a thing, but it sounded like a lot of fun. That evening at the supper table, Mom and Dad told me all about the games they had gone to when courting in the 1930’s. I’d never seen my parents laugh just reminiscing about the donkey baseball games they had watched. So, I was anxious to see some donkey baseball!
“Back then,” they said, “there were very few baseball parks like our Oiler Park.” This was where the Pampa Oilers, a semi-pro team, played other teams in the Texas/New Mexico League. Dad explained that every school (grades 1 through 12) had a ball diamond and that’s where they played donkey baseball. Since There were no stands for the people to sit in, the folks just lined the sides of the field with their wagons and buggies and a few Model T’s. Some families brought their quilts for sitting on the grass. The two managers of the teams would walk around and pass the hat for your nickels to watch the game. Mom reminded him that sometimes the teams had a carnival with the Farris wheels and so forth so that it was fun for everyone.
But our Oiler Park had stands for sitting, dugouts for the players, and a fence that surrounded the park. It had colorfully painted advertising for local businesses.
When we arrived that evening, I still didn’t know how you played this game. I counted fifteen donkeys in one corner of the outfield. There were no saddles, but they all had on a bridle with reins. The players all took batting practice but only two guys were warming up as pitchers. The soft drink guy was selling Cokes, RC Cola, and Dr. Peppers, so Dad bought the three of us a drink. We were handed a green glass bottle with today’s logo on it. The bottle was only about 6-inch high and was 8 ounces of drink. Drinks were 5 cents each. There were two umpires, one behind home plate and the other one between first and second bases. There were two guys holding snow shovels and a bucket... they were the pooperscoopers.
