“Then and Now”
Part II
The Bolling Sisters-in-Law
“Keeping the Family Together”
By JOEY WARNER
Milt and Frank Bolling had a good career in major league baseball and have lived a better life since their days on the diamond ended. Both men are the leaders of families that are noteworthy to society.
Milt spent his career in Boston, Washington and Detroit from 1952 to 1958 while Frank toured Detroit, Milwaukee and Atlanta from 1954 to 1966 before both returned home to Mobile.
Milt, 78, has been married to his wife Joanne for 56 years and Frank, 77, has been married to Su for 55 years. Both have enjoyed happy lives and are still active in life’s everyday activities.
Joanne and Su experienced the everlasting and trying times of being the wife of a major league baseball player. The stories are different for both ladies but the results are similar. Memories last forever and some of the history of the Bollings’ sisters-in-law will be revealed throughout this report.
Su and Frank
Su and Frank met when they were 19 years old. Su was originally from Montgomery and was dating Frank’s best friend when she laid her eyes upon Frank. Without knowing Frank was a baseball player, Su was focused on him as a charming young man and they finally got togethe r and six months later were married in 1953.
Su remembers her first trip on the road with Frank. As 19-year old newlyweds, they drove all night to Buffalo, New York. When they arrived in Buffalo, the team was on the road and Frank was welcomed to professional baseball by catching the first train out to Montreal. He left his new wife at a vacant apartment without knowing anyone or anything.
“I would spend a lot of time with the other wives on the club and it turned out to be like a second family,” Su said. “We met good people but it has been hard to keep up with them as we grow older.”
The girls on the Detroit team surprised Su with her first baby shower and Su claims that she does not know what they would have done without the friendships they made.
“We would stay in places that people knew were rented to ballplayers and they knew when the team was on the road so I would never stay by myself,” Su said. “The police were always being called for burglars and attempted break-ins.”
Su said she always wanted to be with Frank so they would take the kids to Spring Training for six weeks and when they went to Detroit, her mother was with them a lot and she was a life saver.
Aggi Hillman, Su’s mother, would come to her daughter's aid in desperate times. 20She would ride with her daughter and grand children to Detroit and one year followed her in another vehicle with a dog and three puppies.
“It seemed like once we got straightened out it was time to come back home to Mobile. All I did was pack and unpack trunks and have them shipped by railway express loaded with our stuff and baby items,” Su said. “It was a job packing up to come back home with two seasons of clothes, household stuff and three children.”
Su was Frank’s biggest fan although when she would tote three kids to the games they would eat a lot at the concession stands and get tired a lot.
“One day in the bleachers there was a fan that was sitting behind us and he kept harassing Frank for making an error or something. After a couple of innings of listening to his abuse, I finally stood up, turned around and threw peanuts all over him and one of them stayed on his bald head,” Su explained with a chuckle.
After telling Frank about it, she said her husband told her she would have to get used to that because the fans are the one’s the pay his salary and it was all part of the game.
“Our kids did not see daddy as any body different because we always tried to be with him and I wish I would have written some funny books when I had my memory because=2 0it slips by so quick,” Su said. “We had a lot of advantages and good times and did things we probably never would have done so I feel baseball was an education.”
“In 1959, Frank let me pick out my own cadillac and I drove it off the lot in Detroit and he bought me my first fur coat in Milwaukee and I wore it to the ball park on a steamy night in August.”
In 1961, they built one of the first homes in the neighborhood where they still live in Mobile and when Su was not with Frank the phone bill was terrible.
“There was so much that would be happening and so much I wanted to tell Frank on the phone and he would have to remind me after an hour or longer that it is long distance,” Su said.
Today, Su’s daughters tell her they can’t believe that Mama did all that stuff on the road and was always ready and on time and found her way.
“I am going to remember that and when they get a little bit older I am going to see if they can remember and how much they can do because I don’t think they could do it because we spoiled them,” Su said jokingly.
Su always wanted a big family and is blessed with twelve grand children and two great grandchildren.
Vicki, their first daughter spent a lot of time at the ball park. She was always meeting people in the bleachers at the games. At four years old, she was so proud of her dad that she would go around advertising and promoting her daddy for being a major league baseball player. At 54, Vicki is a grandmother and housewife that is married to Sam Yarbrough, creator of Sam’s Web Club in Mobile.
“Feb was the best behaved of the kids. He was Frank made all over and acted like his daddy,” Su said. “Frank never pushed him in baseball but he would listen to his dad.”
He was a a good basketball player but he chose baseball and after graduating from McGill-Toolen, played four years for Eddie Stanky at South Alabama.
In 1999, Feb died suddenly. It was tragic because he was very healthy and was at the top of his career at Chevron in Pascagoula.
“During a Christmas party, Feb’s widowed wife Patti, got up from the dinner table to get Feb dessert when Feb’s heart stopped and he died,” Su said. “it was so difficult for everyone but he left three wonderful children that have turned out great.”
Their youngest son, Chris, 46, played baseball at McGill and junior college ball at Patrick Henry in Monroeville. Chris loved baseball but he would rather fish and hunt. He went on to receive his degree at USA and is presently a Marine Biologist at Degussa.
In the sixties, Su lost two infant children and had problems with miscarriages. In 1967, they adopted Missy, who was three days old and she became their bundle of joy.
After retiring from baseball, Su and Frank have had to make adjustments to make a living. They come home each night for themselves and their family.
Su and Frank love to dance and used to be involved in Mardi Gras until it was not fun anymore. They enjoy their swimming pool and cherish spending time with their children and grandchildren.
“Life is about family and we do everything together and we have been blessed by the Lord with our health,” Su said. “We live a normal life when we put our spouse first and go to bed at night without being mad for any reason.”
Joanne and Milt
Joanne met Milt on a blind date and they were married within a year at Little Flower Catholic Church in 1952.
Joanne grew up in the Saraland and Chickasaw area before graduating from Murphy in 1949 before going to work as a bookkeeper at Merchants Bank.
“I was fortunate enough to meet and marry the best man I will ever know,” Joanne admitted. “It was a challenge to be married to a man that was a publ ic figure,”
“People use to say we should have been one of those million dollar families but nobody was making a million dollars back then so Milt would have to work another job in the off season.”
Joanne was a stay-at-home mom and never had to work for a paycheck because MIlt always had two jobs and the day they returned home from baseball from wherever they were, Milt was at a job selling real estate or clothes at Metzgers, and was involved in community activities at the same time.
Early in Milt’s career, Joanne started out with her husband in Birmingham and then went with him to Spring Training in Sarasota and met other players and their families.
Joanne learned to be independent because Milt was in and out of town so often although the other wives she met were wonderful and committed to their husband’s career.
“I was committed to my husband’s career but was not able to go to a lot of games,” Joanne said. “People only had one car and I would have to find my own way and it would take an hour to get to the game.”
“Milt’s father, M. J., would go with me and our daughter, Angie, to Boston and it was just a 2-lane road so it was always difficult to get there then find a place to live because we would only be=2 0there for a few months.” Joanne said.
Milt had great parents. His mother, Fannie Belle, turned 100 years old recently and continues to hold on although M. J. died in the seventies. Fannie Belle was a nurse for many years and she took care of everyone.
Joanne and Milt had a growing family and were always paying tuition for their kids’ education when Milt’s playing days ended. He came back to Mobile for a couple of years before going back to work with the Red Sox.
“We had three children with another on the way when Milt’s playing days ended although he spent ten years as a scout with the Red Sox and I traveled with him throughout. ” Joanne said. “Even though Milt had taken a job in the Boston front office, his family came first.”
There was a time when Milt drove the family in a station wagon to an assignment in the Pioneer League and they stayed there seven weeks.
Joanne and Milt are blessed with nine grand kids while their children are spread throughout the country and doing well. Angie, 55, is an actress in Dallas; Cary, 54, is a research specialist in Alaska; Val, 52, is the vice-president of a bank in Houston and Rick, 49, is an auto mechanic in Auburn.
Joanne was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2001 and she has learned to manage the side affects and has a husband that has been there with support.
“I have went through a series of chemotherapy treatments and have went through remission twice,” Joanne said. “I tell people about my cancer to let people know that there is hope and support. I have a wonderful quality of life and I encourage people to reach out to people with cancer.”
Joanne and Milt enjoy line dancing, playing cards with friends, playing badmitten and volleyball, and even picked up roller skating when they were in their sixties until Joanne fell and broke her wrist.
“We love reading books and keeping up with political news, enjoy live entertainment at the Theater Guild and Joe Jefferson Players and love being with our friends,” Joanne said.
Some of Joanne and Milt’s dearest friends are Betty and Reggie Copeland. Milt and Betty were childhood neighbors and Betty actually taught Milt how to dance.
“Betty and I did a lot of things together when our husband's were out of town and our children went to school together,” Su said.
Joanne acknowledged all of the great baseball players that have come from Mobile. She commended the Mobile Bay Bears for their work toward building a museum in honor of Hank Aaron.
“I realize that people have tried to work toward building a Sports Museum in Mobile but I think with all the great athletes that have come from our City; I think Mobile needs a Sports Museum.”
