Carl Erskine's life is so much more than baseball

Former Boy of Summer to be recognized in Cooperstown this weekend

Carl Erskine is the last living embodiment of Brooklyn’s Boys of Summer. Known affectionately as “Oisk,” he pitched for the Dodgers from 1948 to 1959, throwing two no-hitters and competing in five World Series, winning the 1955 championship for the Bums. He is revered among fans of a certain demographic, who vocalize their support for Oisk and Pee Wee, Jackie and Duke, Gil and Campy on social media groups. These same fans continue to this day to demonize the O’Malley family as Lord Voldemort, he whose name shall not be spoken.

Erskine’s 122-78 career record and 4.00 career ERA do not qualify him for the Hall of Fame but that won’t stop him from assuming his permanent place in Cooperstown this weekend as this year’s recipient of the “Buck” O’Neil Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes someone who “used baseball to teach lessons of life, love, and respect.”

I had talked via telephone to Erskine, now 96 years old, twice in the last couple of years for a book project I recently completed. He was gracious with his time and memories. Erskine lives, as he has for decades, in the place of his birth, Anderson, Indiana, with his wife of 75(!) years, Betty, and close to their son, Jimmy, born in 1960 with Down syndrome. I have come to know two individuals close to Erskine, Ted Green and Jim Denny, during this time. They are evangelists for Carl’s life story and deserve credit for helping spread the Gospel that is Carl’s life well lived. 

Green’s recently completed documentary, “The Best We’ve Got: The Carl Erskine Story” is a wonderful and poignant look into Erskine’s life. It is one worth telling. 

Before toeing the rubber at Ebbets Field, Carl was a high school basketball standout in 1940s Indiana where one of closest friends was Johnny Wilson, a Black boy who lived nearby. Carl served in the U.S. Navy during World War II before eventually arriving in Flatbush, debuting as a 22-year-old on July 25, 1948 nearly 75 years to the day from he will receive the Cooperstown recognition.

He joined a team with Black stars Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella. Carl never saw race, only people. He famously bounced a curveball in the bullpen at the Polo Grounds on October 3, 1951 and avoided being summoned in to face Bobby Thomson. He pitched two no-hitters. He won World Series games. He ushered in the Los Angeles Dodgers era, starting the first ever game at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on April 18, 1958, a 6-5 Dodgers victory in which Carl earned the win. 

In 1960, he and Betty moved back to Anderson with their family which now included a son, Jimmy, born with Down syndrome. At a time when families often confined individuals with intellectual disabilities to group homes, the Erskines decided to have him live at home and take him with them wherever they went. 

The Erskines became involved with Special Olympics Indiana. Jimmy worked for more than two decades at the Anderson, Indiana Applebee’s restaurant where a four-top table along the east side of the restaurant sits next to two large framed photos of Carl during his Brooklyn days.

It was at that “Erskine Table” on June 30, 2023 I sat briefly with Jim Denny and the New York Times’ award-winning national baseball writer Tyler Kepner prior to Kepner interviewing Carl for this exceptional tribute that ran in Monday’s Times. Seriously, read it. And spend 30 seconds listening to Carl play Take Me Out to the Ballgame on his harmonica.

The “Erskine Table” at the Applebee’s restaurant in Anderson, Ind.

I was in Indiana that morning to meet for coffee with Green and the executive director Special Olympics Indiana to discuss the series of school-age books, the Erskine Personal Impact Curriculum (EPIC) they have developed, and how it might be used for the students enrolled in my College. Ever since I worked the 2015 Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles, I have championed the organization. This was a chance to combine things for which I am passionate: higher education, learning, Special Olympics, inclusion, Dodgers. 

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I stopped in Anderson to thank Denny for helping connect me with Erskine and share stories of our mutual interests in the Dodgers. Denny began the morning cutting grass, one of his two jobs (he is also a firefighter). He and Green were going to meet Kepner for lunch and accompany him to Erskine's home. Kepner, it turns out, attended Vanderbilt with writer Andrew Maraniss, a person with whom I have become acquainted over the past few years. We took a selfie and sent it to Maraniss without context. Andrew texted me a few hours later to hear the story of why the picture was made.

Life has a funny way of connecting people. As I drove back to Ohio I reflected on the truly randomness of the morning. People of different ages from different places and different professions converging on a small community alongside Interstate 69 in eastern Indiana, brought together with one common piece of connective tissue: Carl Erskine. It summarizes Carl’s life story in a way, his ability to connect people. Congratulations on the well-deserved recognition of your life, Carl.