A Little Springvale/Sanford Red Sox Baseball History – Part 1

I know I don’t talk too much about the Red Sox, but I’m a huge fan and have been all my life. I was talking with an old storeowner a while back, he ran Babe’s Store near Goodall Park. Anyway, I had heard about a game between members of the Red Sox, including Babe Ruth who played against former teammate and one time captain of the Red Sox, Freddy Parent, originally from Biddeford but was a long time Sanford, Maine resident. The way I got the story (sort of an urban legend) was that the big bambino hit the game-winning homerun over the left-field fence, a mammoth shot, that when it came down landed on top of Babe’s Store some 500 feet away.

Well, I got the low-down straight from the man himself, Babe, owner of Babe’s Store. In his words – “I’ve been asked that question before”, he said. “Babe Ruth did hit the winning homerun but it never hit the store, I know because it wasn’t there”. He went on say that the store was built in the 1930’s (I don’t remember the exact year) and that even if it had been there it fell far short of the spot where the store now sits. I guess it was quite a game from all accounts. In part two of this story I’ll recap game, but, seeing the focus of the story was to originally highlight Sanford, Maine’s own Freddy Parent, I thought it only fitting to first add his bio.

When early baseball history was being made, this 5'5" Maine native with a bemused look and pouty smile was often around. In the first WS (1903), he was the winning Boston team's shortstop, and was the last surviving participant. When Yankee Jack Chesbro threw his famous wild pitch on the last day of the 1904 season to blow the pennant, Parent was the batter. His fine defensive plays saved four no-hitters, including Cy Young's perfect game. Parent's solid hitting, running, and fielding made him a popular hero in Boston. Parent denied three pitchers no-hitters when he got his club's only hits. He provided the dramatic conclusion for Frank Smith's no-hitter when, refusing to accept an intentional walk, he reached out to drive in the game's only run in the bottom of the ninth. To be continued….

Money Update – Today we found 17 cents in change and 23 bottles and cans.

Michele came up with the first find of the day snagging a dime at school. She also found 4 pennies on her run, all of them near the Black Bear Café located on Main Street. The final three cents came on the evening run. We found penny number one on the sidewalk walking down Main Street, then another penny near the village consignment shop and the last penny courtesy of 7-11. It was on the ground in the parking lot.

Money totals for 2006 - .52
Money totals since Jan. 2005 – 340.51

Bottle and Can totals for 2006 – 14,341 – 717.05
Bottle and Can totals since Jan. 2005 – 24,363 – 1,218.15