Where Have You Gone, Joe DiMaggio?

Bob McConnell & Donna Harlow, Mr. & Miss Eastern High 1963

Joe DiMaggio was a Hall of Fame baseball player for the New York Yankees long before I knew there was a thing called baseball. He played a few years in my childhood, was named American League Most Valuable Player three times, was a consistently named to the All-Star team (13 times) and was a star on a team that went to nine World Series championships during his career. He was a hero to many a youngster.

And now most young boys don’t have any idea who he was. As Simon and Garfunkel asked, “Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?” He played baseball before my time, but I heard enough about him to hold him in high esteem. Then I heard he married Marilyn Monroe and he became my hero.

Another hero of mine who seemed, as life went on, to have disappeared was my older brother. I was with his son, my nephew, Tim, a couple of weeks ago and we were comparing notes on how we saw his dad. He saw a much different Bob than I did. And I wondered, “Where did you go, Bob McConnell?”

The Bob I grew up with was kind to a fault. He was even kind to me, his little brother. He was smart and witty. I am pretty sure he made straight A’s in high school but drove his teachers to distraction with his sense of humor and funny remarks. When he applied to The Ohio State University (I have always thought the “The” in Ohio State was just a bit condescending, if not ridicules.) and went for preadmission testing. Following the test, the proctor called my parents in for a conference. I am sure they thought, “What has he done this time?” She wanted to tell them that their son had just scored the highest marks on the math test in the university’s history. Bob went on to receive a bachelor’s and master’s degrees from OSU and a Ph.D. in engineering from Purdue University. The boy was smart. Well, he was what we called book smart. Sometimes common sense escaped him.

As I have mentioned in other blogs, he was an All-Star pitcher. In high school, he threw several no-hitters. When he got up to warm up, the opposing players would let out a collective sigh, hang their heads and lose hope. I have never seen anyone throw a baseball that hard. Fortunately, I played on the team with him. He intimidated me, too. I lost all hope when he pitched batting practice. A couple of his no-hitters were extra-inning games. Many of my teammates were no better at hitting than I. And in the spring, I stank. When he wasn’t striking fear into the opposition’s hearts, he was on the bench growling insults at them to throw them off their game. He was the king of meaningless insults.

He wasn’t any goodie two shoes. We rolled the family car out the driveway to take a midnight drive more than once before either of us had a license. He and I and a couple of close friends were well known for being better than average at “T-Ping” houses. But he was generally better behaved than I. I smoked, he didn’t. I cut class, he didn’t. I got suspended from school and he didn’t. I got caught cheating on a Latin test, he didn’t need to. I cussed a lot and he didn’t. I irritated the living hell out of my parents and Bob didn’t. And he was the best brother in the world, and I wasn’t. We were very different, were best friends and truly loved each other.

He grew up and the Bob had known disappeared. Following college, he married a woman whose personality did not mesh well with his. (I am being really, really kind here.) A few years later his oldest son, Robert Redding, Jr. was killed in an automobile accident at the age of two. Neither parent ever really got over it. Then in his 30’s, he was diagnosed as bi-polar. He had an extreme case of it which was pretty much debilitating. The medications he took caused him to shake and be lethargic. Those same drugs ended up killing his kidneys. He had a heart attack, a couple of near death experiences and died of kidney failure.

In talking with Tim, I came to realize that we knew two different Bobs. So, the question is, “Where did you go, Joe DiMaggio and Bob McConnell?” Honestly, I know where Bob went – he went to be with Jesus. Joe, I don’t know.

Copyright © 2018, William T. McConnell, All Rights Reserved

Bill McConnell is the Interim Minister at Norwood Christian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, and is a Church Transformation consultant and a Christian Leadership Coach. He is a frequent speaker at Church Transformation events. His latest book on church transformation is DEVELOPING A SIGNIFICANT CHURCH and is available at Westbow Press.

He can be contacted @ bill45053@gmail.com. Connect with him on Facebook @ William T. McConnell or on Twitter @billmc45053 or visit his Amazon Author Page @ Amazon