It was hardly a confrontation with Ted Williams or Mickey Mantle, but Carl Scheib will take any opportunity to grab a baseball and recount what can only be described as a special stretch in professional baseball.
The Gratz native and 11-year big-leaguer was back in Harrisburg Wednesday to throw out the ceremonial first pitch prior to the Harrisburg Senators' Eastern League showdown with Erie at FNB Field.
One short stretch of the arm and delivery later, the engaging 90-year-old Scheib expressed his well-earned opinion on some of the "softer" rules of the modern game and his first tentative steps in pro ball.
After all, Scheib was merely a "15-year-old farm boy" when he auditioned for Philadelphia Athletics manager Connie Mack.
"I had a good life, just one break after another," said Scheib following his pitch to Senators catcher Brian Jeroloman.
"I was 15 went I went down to Philadelphia. It was 120 miles away and I thought it was the other end of the country. I didn't know anything. I was used to playing in county parks, so can you imagine walking into [Shibe Park] and seeing 35,000 people?"
Scheib was a standout pitcher athlete in Gratz but his opportunity to play professionally is affixed to Hannah Clark and a salesman named Al Grossman.
As the story goes, Clark was a local grocer in Gratz who made sure Grossman, who just happened to have friends in the Athletics' organization, knew about the talented Scheib. Grossman eventually penned a letter to Mack, always on the look out for players who could help improve his struggling Athletics.
By September 1942, Scheib was in Philadelphia when Mack, after the Athletics were rained out, told the youngster to head for the bullpen.
"I didn't have any glove or shoes," Scheib said. "The game had been rained out so I went through the clubhouse and got a glove and shoes. Everyone was standing around watching me. Lucky enough, I could throw pretty hard, had a good curve, and change up. Connie Mack told me to hurry back next year."
Scheib's 1954 Topps trading card.
By 1943, 16-year-old Scheib was pitching batting practice in spring training and he eventually got the blessing from his father to leave school and pursue a career in baseball. With his father co-signing the deal because of his age, Scheib was paid $800 ($500 bonus) for the remainder of the 1943 season.
"We were coming home on the train and Mack pulled me into his little office on the train," Scheib said. "He said 'Don't you think it's about time?' and I told him I was ready."
While adjusting to being a teenager in professional baseball wasn't easy, Scheib made his way through 11 seasons with the Athletics and St. Louis Cardinals, his career interrupted (1945-46) with his military service.
Aside from his prowess on the mound, Scheib became a lethal pinch-hitter, using his aggressive approach to hit .250 with five home runs and 59 RBIs in 468 career at bats. In 1951, Scheib hit a career-best .396 (21-for-53). He finished 45-65 overall on the mound with 17 saves.
The celebration of Scheib's incredible story will continue Thursday at the place where it all started.
Scheib, who has called San Antonio, Texas, his home for 59 years, and his extended family will return to Gratz to celebrate the recent release of Lawrence Knorr's biography "Wonder Boy -- The Story of Carl Scheib: The Youngest Player in American League History."
Friends will gather at Gratz Community Center at 7 p.m. for a book signing and sale benefitting the Gratz Historical Society. Scheib also will donate some of his baseball memorabilia to the Gratz Historical Society Museum.