Guest Feature from Kevin Lagowski

Musings from My Dad about Former Phillies - Part 1

It’s a bit past Father’s Day, but let me introduce you to my dad, Ken Lagowski. He’s going strong at the age of 68, and he’s been living and dying (mostly dying) with the Phillies through three stadiums, roughly 20 managers, hundreds of games attended in person, thousands upon thousands watched and listened to, and approximately 3,481,997 instances of Mike Lieberthal grounding into a double play with one out and the bases loaded.

Beyond just being a fan, however, my dad was a good player in his own right, and in fact he still plays ‘old man baseball’ now. And I mean baseball, not softball. But back in the days before the passage of time gradually robbed him of his athletic ability, which included the need for two new hips, my dad played competitively with and against a number of former Major League Baseball players in the Delaware Semi-Pro League and other, age-specific organizations that he spent time in over the years.

In general, I believe that it’s a good idea to talk with your parents and older members of your family to hear their recollections and experiences. Even better, make sure you record what they say, write it down, etc. Sadly, Father Time remains undefeated, and we won’t always be able to hear these first-hand accounts whenever we want to. And so with that in mind, I recently asked my dad to talk about and jot down what he could recall about his run-ins and experiences with former Phillies over the decades. It’s not the most glamorous of subjects for the millennials and other younger fans out there, but I hope that this might serve as a way to deepen folks’ appreciation for the game of baseball at large and of Phillies history more specifically. Things were a lot different back then, and it’s hard to imagine the major leaguers of today kicking around in rec leagues after their pro days, so enjoy this snippet of days gone by while you can.