SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
It was great to meet up with Bobby Meacham again, but I remembered not to mention the late George Steinbrenner again, but he didn’t.
I covered 15 years of Major League baseball, the New York Yankees in fact from 1979 to 1987, and Meacham played all of his six Big League years in pinstripes, some decent, some just all right. He even had his baseball cards.
But no longer a big time sportswriter and with no credentials to flash, I decided to make an appointment to visit the Albuquerque Isotopes of the Triple A Pacific Coast League and meet with Meacham. I called the front office, it contacted Meacham, and he okayed everything.
His first reaction, “Yes, I heard you called and told the club you were welcome to visit me. Heck, I remember you getting me and my wife Geri, an apartment in Glen Rock, N.J., where you also lived, and you always wrote nice things about me. We even did some running together, me, you and Geri.”
Nowadays, Meacham is 63 years old and has remained a part of baseball. Since his final season in 1988 with the Yankees, he’s been a minor league coach, manager, batting coach, bench coach, and now with Albuquerque, he’s been a combination of all of these.
“It’s neat,” he said, “just too bad we’re not a very good club. Geri and I have a son and a daughter, he’s played high school baseball and she’s played high school and college softball. Great kids.”
The incident with Steinbrenner way back in 1984 brought some laughs between us.
“It was a game at home against the Boston Red Sox,” Bobby said,
“and our starting second baseball had an elbow injury, so with two on and two out, manager (Bob) Lemon sent me in to play second and I botched up a ground ball, threw it wild to first, we lost, and George was growling, sent me to double A in Columbus the next day.”
“and our starting second baseball had an elbow injury, so with two on and two out, manager (Bob) Lemon sent me in to play second and I botched up a ground ball, threw it wild to first, we lost, and George was growling, sent me to double A in Columbus the next day.”
This was the season after Meacham had his best, 1983, played the entire 156 games at short, was excellent in the field and even had a good campaign at the plate. July 10,1988 was his final game when the Yanks made managerial, office and player changes.
He also recalled the time I got my brother a pass for a home game and when I introduced them in the clubhouse, Bobby complimented me and gave my brother an autographed ball and glove.
Back in Albuquerque, I had lunch with Bobby and Geri, and I told him the Isotopes don’t get any play in the newspapers.
“Well,” he said, “if you check the standings we are way down there in 3A, so not much good to write, but I appreciate you coming here to say hello and see me still a part of baseball.”
Yes, he was right on target, there is the Albuquerque team that was formerly a Los Angeles Dodgers’ farm team, in the bottom of the 10-team league, a 24-40 record, 22 games behind the leading Oklahoma City team now owned by the Dodgers, and running away with the league at 46-18.
“Well,” Bobby said with a laugh, “we’re only four behind the El Paso team and three behind Las Vegas and Sacramento.”
Nice to be remembered by a nice guy.
