Catching Up With “Cool Papa”

I just had a 45-minute phone call with a friend of mine that I hadn’t spoken with in quite a while. “Cool Papa” played softball for me back in the day. You would never guess by talking with him what he does for a living. He is as down-to-earth as they come. Plus, he is a little bit crazy. Okay, he is a whole lot crazy.

I usually call “Cool Papa” every couple of months. This time it was closer to six months. We always try to catch up on things. You know, stuff like how the Brewers are going to do or who the Packers are going to draft. Nothing earth shattering, just general sports stuff.

Sooner or later we will get to talking about the “good old days” at Finney’s West. Back in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, Finney’s West was the softball hot spot in Kenosha. Many of the events that we reminisce about would center around Finney’s West. Some of them even had something to do with softball.

A typical chat with “Cool Papa” usually ended with me asking how his wife and three sons were doing. He would bring me up to date and then ask me if I was going to come out and watch him play at the Moose Lodge.

Today when I called “Cool Papa” the call started out in the routine fashion. We talked about the Badger/Michigan State game. Brett Favre’s latest retirement came up and we eventually got around to the upcoming baseball season.

After that the familiar stories about the crazy hijinks at Finney’s West began. We talked about the time his youngest boy tried to climb the centerfield fence after a morning league game.

I then brought up one of my favorite tales - the infamous incident involving Jim Krifka and Mike Foss. Before could I get done saying Foss, “Cool Papa” said, “Don’t start Mike!” You see that was (no pun intended) the punch line to this particular anecdote.

After we both chuckled. I reminded my friend that Jim Krifka was no longer with us. He then made me aware that Mike Foss had also passed away not so long ago. Before long we had come up with a rather sobering list of people from the good old days that were “no longer with us.”

Attempting to divert the conversation to a more positive direction, I asked “Cool Papa” how the boys were. He informed me that he and his wife, “Fred” were now blessed with a total of four grandchildren. Remember I mentioned his youngest son climbing the centerfield fence? He is currently serving our country over in Afghanistan.

My latest phone call with “Cool Papa” had all the ingredients it usually does, although this time there was a difference. We gabbed about the good old days like we always do. However this time there seemed to be a little more emphasis on the old parts then on the good ones.

I plan on calling my friend again in a few months, not waiting six like this time. By the way, before hanging up, he asked me if I was going to come watch him play at the Moose Lodge this year. “Cool Papa” turns 57 this year. I told you he was a whole lot crazy. Until next time…from the booth.