“Then and Now”
The Bolling Brothers remember when...
By Joey Warner

Mobile has a strong tradition of baseball.  There are two brothers from the Port City that will be remembered for being strong contributors to the game of baseball at every level in their time and they are still remembered as fine, upstanding citizens in our community today.
     Milt and Frank Bolling are native Mobilians that have represented Mobile with honor. All local baseball fans remember Satchel Paige, Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Billy Williams, Amos Otis, Tommy Agee, Cleon Jones and Ozzie Smith. These guys were awesome athletes and have done wonders as contributors in the scrapbook of baseball memories from our City.
     I had an opportunity to interview Milt and Frank Bolling and it was one of the most exciting times I have ever spent with baseball people as we talked about just a little bit of their lives in baseball.
     These two brothers are still so full of life and energy and I believe they are an impact in baseball at any level.  They have made major contributions to the game of baseball with their love for the game by just being themselves.
     My visit with both of them together made me feel like I was right there with them as  as we talked about their past and their experiences along the trail to the major leagues.  The Bolling brothers have never forgotten where they came from and how they got to where they made it and they definitely enjoy reminiscing the times.
     My father, the late Joseph M. Warner Sr., went to McGill with the Bolling brothers at McGill Catholic school.  Daddy was so proud of just being acquainted with Milt and Frank.  He used to rave on and on about what great baseball players they were and how good of people they had become in society.   If my dad was still alive today, he would be anxious about this feature story about two of the finest people to ever play baseball from Mobile, Alabama.
     My time spent with these men was very special and so very short.  They played major league baseball when the game was pure and genuine.  Unlike  today's game,  it was a job that required a lot of talent, ability and dedication to keep your it.  
     The game was different in the era when the Bollings played.  They loved baseball for what the game is worth to people that truly love it.   There was very little showboat glamour and the selfish business greed that exists in today’s game was not as public as it is today.  
      As a real down to earth baseball fan, it felt so good to talk about baseball with two local guys that remember the game with such a humble recall of the past. I hope that I can have the opportunity to listen to more of their stories in more dep th and detail in the future because the Bolling brothers are two of the finest baseball men I have ever met.

The Bollings' Job Performance
Milt broke in to the majors as a shortstop with the Boston Red Sox in 1952 and spent time there until 1956.  His career was cut short by an injury although he played with the Washington Senators in 1957 and the Detroit Tigers in 1958.
     Frank played second base for the Detroit Tigers from 1954 to 1960 and the Milwaukee Brewers from 1961 to 1965.  He ended his 12-year career with the Atlanta Braves in 1966.
     Milt and Frank are one of just four sets of brothers in the history of major league baseball that were double play combinations at shortstop and second base with the same team when they both played with the Detroit Tigers in 1958. The others were Cal and Billy Ripken of the Baltimore Orioles in the eighties and nineties, Granny and Gavin Hammer of the Philadelphia Phillies in 1945 and Eddie and Johnny O’Brien, who were twins, for the Pittsburgh Pirates in the fifties.
     During my visit with the Bolling's at Frank’s home in Mobile, Milt scanned through old scrapbooks and memorabilia while Frank gave me a tour of a museum of keepsakes and photographs of legendary major leaguers and himself that decorates the baseball living area of his home. I love baseball and it was a real pleasure to experience the enthusiasm and sportsmanship that the Bolling bro thers shared with me about their love for baseball.
     Milt is 77 and Frank is 76 and the more we talked, it felt like I was talking to two young prospects in their early twenties that were anxiously awaiting another shot at the major leagues.  At 45, I felt like the veteran as these two old timers relived precious baseball memories from their past.
     Milt showed promise at shortstop with the Red Sox, but injuries to his ankles and elbows shortened his career.  He was a career .241 hitter with 19 home runs and 94  RBIs in 400 games.  In 1953,  he was hitting .320 and in line for ‘Rookie of the Year’  honors when he was hampered by an ankle injury.  
     In 1954, he posted career highs by playing in 113 games, recording 92 hits, 20 doubles, 6 homers, 36 RBIs and scored 42 runs, but appeared in only 144 games for the next five years before he was sent to the Washington Senators in 1957.
     Frank was a career .254 hitter with 106 home runs, 556 RBIs, 692 runs, 221 doubles and 40 triples. He was named to the All-Star team in 1961  and 1962 and earned a Gold Glove in 1958.  In 1958, he led the American League with 9 sacrifice flies and topped the National League with 17 sacrifice hits in 1963. He finished in the top 10 in his league in hits and doubles (twice), triples (twice), singles (twice), times on base, hit by a pitch, sacrifice hits and sacrifice flies.
     He led the National League in fielding by a second baseman three times (1961, 62 and 64) and finished his career with an impressive .982 fielding percentage that included 71 straight games without an error.
    He had four hits or two home runs  in a single game four times and he hit the only grand slam of his career off Sandy Koufax on September 22, 1965.

The Early Years  
     Milt and Frank grew up in Riley's Woods, which was near where Ladd Stadium is today and four blocks from Hartwell Field and both attended McGill Institute.  They basically taught themselves how to play baseball by playing for hours practically every day.  They were blessed with talent and sharpened their skills with hard work and commitment.  They earned their reputation honestly and will always remember where they came from.  
   The Bolling brothers grew up in Riley’s Woods, which was near where Ladd Stadium is today and four blocks from old Hartwell Field.  
    “We spent most of out time at Crawford Park and played our games at Lyons Park,” Milt said. “McGill, Murphy and UMS were the only three high schools before Semmes Tech came around.”
     Milt recalled the first time that they played against the black guys in Mobile. After spending some time in the minor leagues as professionals the Bolling's were back in Mobile and formed an all white team.
     Eddie Stanky, former major leaguer and baseball coach at the University of South Alabama, managed the team and Bill Menton promoted a game when the white guys went to Toulminville to play the black guys.  
     “I will never forget that Hank Aaron was the shortstop for the black team,” Milt said. “Pete Wojciechowski (Wojie), who spent time in the major leagues, pitched for us that day and struck out 17.”
      Milt said there was a guy that played shortstop for the black team who hit three home runs and each time he came up to bat he hit it farther.
     “It is the first time we saw Hank Aaron, who was 17 and had just finished his first year with the Indianapolis Clowns,” Milt said. “Nobody else could hit Wojie and Aaron was ripping him.”
      According to Milt, Ed Scott, a former scout for the Red Sox, signed Aaron off of a softball field, who some said was batting cross-handed at the time.
     “There was no organized sports and we never got uniforms until we got to high school,” Milt said.  “We would play pickup games barefooted all day long at the playground until we had to go home.”
     Frank said there was no supervision or umpires and there was never any arguments and they would just play and have a good time.
    =E 2We went to a lot of the Mobile Bears games and watch those guys play but we never had any body really teach us until we got to high school,” Frank said.
     Milt said the first coach he and Frank ever had was Stan Galle. Galle spent some time in the major leagues and coached Spring Hill College. He made Milt a shortstop and Frank a second baseman in American Legion ball.
     “We would go to Weinackers and watch them play fast pitch softball when the Bears were not in town and and we would learn how to play from those guys,” Milt said. “Our Uncle Jack made it to the big leagues and our dad played semipro baseball with the Archbishop Lipscomb’s dad, who were friends of the family. In two generations of four boys, three of us made it to the major leagues.”
     M. J., the Bolling brothers' father, guided and encouraged his sons toward a baseball career. Jack Bolling, Milt and Frank’s uncle, hit .289 with Philadelphia in 1939 and .351 with Brooklyn in 1944.
     “We would go to the old CYO softball field, which is where McGill is now, and take batting practice from the mound, which was a shorter distance to home plate to develop bat speed,” Milt said. “We used to get Leo Smith, who lived across the street from us and was much younger, to shag fly balls for us until we got tired and then we felt sorry for him and would let him hit a few.”
     Smith became a great hitter and went on to be a star at McGill and made it to AAA in professional baseball.
     After attending St. Mary’s Catholic, Milt, who is fifteen months older, arrived at McGIll first.  McGill Institute was located downtown across from the old Admiral Semmes motel.
     “Ray Dicharry came out of the service and coached at McGill and had a great influence on us because he helped develop and motivate us,” Frank said. “He was the kind of guy that that did not teach us a lot about an individual sport but he would teach us a lot about other things that gave us a lot of confidence.”
    In Milt’s senior year at McGill in 1948, several players signed professional contracts. Cleveland took catcher Arnold Stroeker, Tommy Legros went to the Chicago Cubs, Henry Turner went to the Cincinnati Reds and Eddie Lavene, Jimmy Ollis and Milt were signed by Boston Red Sox scout George Digby, who eventually signed Frank also.  
    Digby felt like Milt and Frank could become a great double play combination at shortstop and second base.
    “Legros was a four-year starter as a pitcher in baseball and quarterback in football at Southern Miss,” Milt said. “In 1952, he signed for $50,000, which was the highest free agent bonus in baseball at the time.”  
     Henry Turner was the fou rth starter for McGill and threw back to back no-hitters.
     “It was a nucleus when the Brothers at McGill disciplined us and it produced a lot of great athletes,” Frank said. “Milt was probably one of the best high school athletes to ever come out of Mobile while I got a lot of recognition but I did not have near the ability that Milt had although I matured fast.”

The Major Leagues  
     Milt signed with the Red Sox at 17 and kicked around in the minors before breaking in to the majors in 1952.
    “Back then there were so many players in the minors that when a player got hurt someone else was always ready to step in,” Milt said. “I hurt my elbow when I got taken out on a double play and I was out for the year and somebody got my job.”
     Milt said the most famous player he played with was Ted Williams. He said Ted was a big, tall and dominating player with a booming voice that could not understand why everybody could not hit like him.
     Frank chimed in and said that he never saw any other player that stepped up to the batting cage and every opposing players would stop, gather and watch in amazement as Ted would take batting practice before games.
     When asked about Jimmy Piersall, Milt reacted with a huge smile and said, “I roomed with him for four years.”   Piersall was a very good center fielder with a .272 average in a 17-year career. Piersall is better known for his well-publicized battle with bipolar disorder that became the subject of the movie ‘Fear Strikes Out.’
     In the 1957 movie,  Anthony Perkins portrayed Piersall and Carl Malden played Piersall’s father.  According to his autobiography, Piersall blamed much of his condition on his father, who pressured him to succeed as a baseball player as a small child. Piersall would eventually disown the film due to what he believed were its distortion of the facts, including over-blaming his father for his problem.
    “Fear strikes out is not a true story,”  Milt chuckled.  “I should have wrote the book.”
     Milt, Piersall and most of the Red Sox organization were Catholic and Milt had a reputation for having a steady influence and was a
wholesome kind of guy so he was matched up with Piersall because the Red Sox thought Milt could help him.
     “In 1952, I was with the Birmingham Barons and Piersall was sent there because he had a mental breakdown,”  Milt explained. “They gave him nine shock treatments and it wiped out all of 52’ and he did not remember anything.”
     Milt said the organization asked him to room with him and he admitted it was the toughest thing he ever had do to in his life. Milt said Piersall was a great ball player but he would do antics to be the center of attraction every where he went.
     Frank said when .300 hitters get their pitch, they rip it and when a .250 hitter gets his pitch, he fouls it off and Milt compared the great hitters that played the outfield with the middle infielder.  
     “The middle infielder is on every play so he has to be mentally alerted on defense while the guy playing left field is not thinking about defense, he is thinking about his about his next at bat," Milt explained.
     “It was quite a thrill to go in to Detroit and play with my brother on the same major league team,” Milt said. “They had Billy Martin playing shortstop and he could not play it so I was the back up and Frank and I got to be the double play combination.”
    “We played against one another when I was with Washington and Frank spiked me and he did not know it,” Milt said. “After the game, I had my hand rapped up and he asked me what happened and I told him that he spiked me trying to steal second base.”
     The same game Milt made two errors on easy plays but went to the hole and robbed his brother of a base hit twice.
     Frank responded by saying they each had a livelihood and they both wanted to do well but he did not expect Milt to let him have a base=2 0hit or not to tag him and not expect him to come in hard as he slid into second base.
     At Detroit, Frank roomed with Jim Bunning, who was a Hall of Famer. “I told him he was never a 20-game winner because he roomed with me.”
     He mentioned  players he played with like Al Kaline and Harvey Kuenn with the Tigers and he remembered a heck of ball club at Milwaukee with players like Warren Spahn, Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron Lou Burdette, Joe Adcock, Del Crandall and Roy McMillan.    
     In the American League, he played against Mantle, Maris, Berra and he talked about the memory of nostalgic ball players like Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente.
     “We always talked about Mobile and our connection with the black guys that came from here and people wondered what we did in Mobile while Milt and I were the token white guys from Mobile,” Frank said. “I will never forget when we went and played the Giants at Candlestick Park and Willie McCovey came up and hit a pop fly in the infield that I called for but the wind blew it and Hank Aaron caught it in right field.”
     “Milt was the better athlete and I was always known as Milt’s brother until he left the major leagues,”  Frank said. “Players don’t seem to have it in their heart today and Jake Peavy is one of the few throwbacks from the old school. ”

What’s Important Now....
     Frank and his his darling wife Suanne of 55 years have 10 grand children and 2 great grand children. He enjoys taking life easy fishing, working in the yard, swimming and spending time with his wife. He is retired from the United Way and has worked with youths in the community
     Milt has been married to his lovely wife Joanne for 56 years and he still works out and loves line dancing.
     Baseball is a wonderful sport that has went through a lot of changes over the years. Milt and Frank Bolling are two baseball men from Mobile that still have an enormous amount of of energy and passion for the greatest sport in the world.
     The Bolling brothers have represented Mobile in an admirable way and they will always be cherished by baseball fans all around the world.