GOLDEN HOMER
"Hank Severeid, work-horse catcher for the St. Louis Browns from 1915 to 1925, recalls this as one of the big thrills of his baseball career:
'One day when Branch Rickey was manager of the Browns we were playing the Chicago White Sox. The White Sox held the lead in the last half of the ninth, 3-0. The Browns had three runners on the bases.
'When I stepped to the plate Rickey flashed the signal to hit the first ball pitched. I swung, and the ball happened to go up in the left field bleachers. How it happened I don't know, but it did. That blow I always remembered because it happened on a Saturday. Robert Lee Hedges, who owned the Browns, called me to the grandstand and said, 'Hank, come up to the office Monday morning. I want to give you a little present. The hit you made to win the ball game will increase my crowd tomorrow (Sunday) by at least 4,000.'
'I went up to the office expecting possibly a suit of clothes or a ten dollar bill. When I reached the office Mr. Hedges said, 'Hank, I got the ball that you hit over the fence, had it painted a gold color with my name on it, and I am presenting it to you.' "
-Willis Johnson in the St. Louis Globe-Democrat (Baseball Digest, January 1952)
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