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A skeleton in Uhlaender's in closet?
2006-02-16 10:19
by Bob Timmermann

Thursday February 16 is the day of the women's skeleton competition at the Winter Olympics in Turin (although the run is in Cesana).

The lone U.S. competitor will be Katie Uhlaender, the daughter of former big leaguer Ted Uhlaender.

But as Repoz points out at Can't Stop The Bleeding there is a big hole in the story that the younger Uhlaender tells about her father. She says in publications such as USA Today, Washington Post, and Reuters that her father tries to encourage her by telling a story of his first major league game, played at Yankee Stadium before a crowd of 60,000.

Well, here was Ted Uhlaender's first game in the majors.

This was Ted Uhlaender's first game at Yankee Stadium.

When Ms. Uhlaender gets back from Italy, she and her dad need to have a talk.

Is a lie a dream that never was true or it something worse?

Update - Uhlaender finished in sixth.

Comments
2006-02-16 02:13:35
1.   joejoejoe
Any chance his teenage daughter is conflating several different stories into one easy to repeat anecdote? Mickey Mantle may as well be Mickey Rooney to most 19 year old girls.

Is there any way to tell if Uhlaender was on the big league roster but did not play? The Twins played the Yanks at the Stadium very early in 1965. Maybe he broke spring training with the club for a few games and never made an appearance.

The 60,000 fans seems like a stretch in any scenario. 60,000 seats, yes - fans, no.

2006-02-16 06:45:28
2.   Jen
Maybe he meant his first start in the majors instead of his first appearance.
2006-02-16 07:11:40
3.   Sam DC
Oh, and about Santa Claus . . .
2006-02-16 09:08:24
4.   Bob Timmermann
The first game Ted Uhlaender started in the majors was on September 18, 1965. It was at Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, MN against Washington.

The 1965 and 1966 Yankees didn't exactly fill the stands every day.

The Yankees only drew 60,000 fans once in 1966 and that was for a game against Detroit. They drew over 60,000 fans once in 1967, against Chicago.

I'm assuming that both games (in early June) were Oldtimers Days.

2006-02-16 09:28:36
5.   Andrew Shimmin
A lie is a wish your heart makes, when you're wide awake. In lies you can lose your heartache: whatever you wish for, you take. . .
2006-02-16 11:04:47
6.   Sliced Bread
Nevermind the boxscores, wait till she finally looks at the covers of "Revolver" and "Rubber Soul" and doesn't see daddy's picture.
Uhlaender will have a lot of explaining to do then.
2006-02-16 11:15:42
7.   DXMachina
You mean that when my dad told me he'd taught Stan Musial how to hit, he wasn't telling the whole truth?
2006-02-16 13:40:24
8.   Humma Kavula
I have no idea where to discuss this, and I haven't seen anybody bring it up, so: this wildly off-topic comment:

In Italy, they call the city that is currently hosting the Olympics "Torino." In English, the city's name is "Turin."

NBC refers to the city as Torino. While I think that's right and proper, it does seem to mark a change. When was the last time that NBC referred to a host city by its local name (excluding host names in English)?

2006-02-16 13:53:04
9.   Bob Timmermann
NBC says they are using the Italian name for Turin because it matches all the signs that people will see at the venues and the name isn't that far off from Turin.

NBC doesn't do it for any other Italian city. The capital of the country (in NBC speak) is Rome.

2006-02-16 14:51:47
10.   Repoz
"Update - Uhlaender finished in sixth."

But...she will tell her son that she came in first by beating the legendary Jean-Claude Billy Kidd in front of millions of American viewers!

2006-02-16 14:52:24
11.   Jon Weisman
Dick Ebersol said he just liked the sound of Torino better.
2006-02-16 15:25:24
12.   Bob Timmermann
In 2010 we will all be forced to say "Vancouver" with a Canadian accent.
2006-02-16 16:43:49
13.   Humma Kavula
Too bad London got the games for 2012. I would have liked to see Ebersol choose between Paris and Puh-ree.

Or, for that matter, between New York and Noo Yawk.

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