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Bob
Batz
Read Bob's bio and previous columns
December 31, 2007
My Magic Number is 6
I
don’t consider myself a superstitious person.
I
mean, I don’t go out of my way to avoid crossing paths with black cats.
I don’t carry a rabbit’s foot in my pocket either.
I
have no fear of walking under ladders.
I
do, however, believe I have a lucky number. And I believe that lucky
number is 6.
Lots of things confirm my special respect for the number 6. For openers,
there are six people in my immediate family.
Then there’s the fact my home address is 6.
But wait, there’s more.
During my 33 – add those digits and you get you-know-what – years as a
member of the Brookville, Ohio Fire Department, my fire department
number has been 76-06.
My
first name Robert has six letters in it.
Furthermore, my mother’s name was Millie (six letters). My father’s name
was Sidney (also six letters).
I
was born in 1939. Subtract 3 from 9 you get (drum roll, please) 6.
My
latest brush with 6 came recently when I found an old Louisville Slugger
baseball bat from my childhood collecting cobwebs and dust in the
basement of our house.
The bat is autographed by former Detroit Tigers superstar Albert William
Kaline. I received it as a gift in the 1950s because Al Kaline was my
hero. He spent his entire career (1953-1974) with the Tigers.
My
hero won 10 Gold Gloves Awards during his career. He appeared in 15
All-Star games.
When he finally hung up his spikes he had 3,007 hits and 399 homeruns.
He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1980, the first year
he was eligible.
I’ve known all that information for many years, but it wasn’t until
recently that I discovered Al Kaline’s number through his entire career
was . . . 6.
© 2007
North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
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