The Night I Received A Phone Call From Willie Mays

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I was in a box

which was my bedroom

with the door closed

The rest of my family

was doing

whatever they did

 after dinner

The phone on my desk rang:

It was Willie Mays

I would have been less excited

if God himself

was on the phone

(Unless God was offering

 tickets to a Giants game)

Willie knew that my sixth birthday

was six days away

It was May 12, 1955

"Willie, you hit a home run

off of Johnny Klippstein

the other day.

"What kind of pitch did he throw you?"

"It was a fastball,

low and outside,

just how I like it."

"Low heat and a big blast."

But then the door opened

and my father saw me on the phone

Instead of instantly shutting the door,

he lingered, laughed,

and then the shut the door

It shattered my excitement

The flatline truth was

that this was NOT Willie Mays

on the phone

It was my Uncle Tony

but I played along

and the last laugh was mine

"Willie, do you know

that my Father hates his brother Tony?

"Do you think you can give him a call?"

Before Willie could answer,

I told him I had to get

off the phone because

I was expecting a call

from Zsa Zsa Gabor

Not bad for a six-year-old

***

PAUL OLIVERIO

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Footnotes

THE NIGHT I RECEIVED A PHONE CALL

FROM WILLIE MAYS

is the copyrighted property

of LCSoL

This page is dedicated
to my Uncle Tony
and Aunt Linda

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