Last month here in Norfolk, Rachel and I went to an incredible photography exhibit at the Chrysler Museum. The exhibit, believe it or not, was not about baseball. Rather, it was about one of my other passions in life – music. Paul McCartney’s “Eyes Of The Storm” photography exhibit featured some incredibly personal photography, shot by McCartney himself, of people, places, hotels, alleyways, and other interesting angles of life according to Paul. The photography was shot in 1963 and 1964 just as the Beatles were taking off on that amazing run of stardom like no other. One such photograph struck me and Rachel because of its caption. Here it is and here is why I write so many baseball stories about people I have never met, nor will ever meet:
Paul writes in the caption box next to the photo, “I was always imagining the lives of people I don’t know, like that man in the front of the train yard, whose story I will never know.“ Wonderful quote and I couldn’t have said it any better. Because I look around the gym, the baseball stadiums, the airports, the hotel lobby, the breakfast cafes, across the street at people the same way. I am fascinated by the stories and lives of every day people. Everyone has a unique story to tell, everyone has meaning, everyone is interesting to the ‘think-outside-the-box’ creative types like myself, and the great Paul McC.
I have mentioned in previous blogs how interested I am with the Quonset Point NAS Baseball experience. I have snipped photos of game action, game recaps, even had the luck of finding a rare team photo. This one right here, I found online via the Sporting News and an auction site selling the photograph and letter accompanying it:
I personally do not know anyone in this photo above. I know their names, their rank in the Navy, and the area they are standing on, Quonset Point, North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Yet, I find them all equally interesting in their own right. And I have such huge admiration for them as men, military heroes, baseball players, and Americans. Each and every one of these Quonset Flyers has a unique story. And last night, I met a man who clued me in to one of those unique stories.
Chris Patrick, great nephew of John Patrick, introduced me to his great-uncle John Patrick. Patrick is standing back row, 4th from the left. Chris Patrick wrote, “One of the players in the photo above, John Patrick, is my father’s (also named John Patrick) uncle. An interesting story about the John Patrick in the photo is that his unit was sent to the Pacific (Iwo Jima) at the height of WWII. He was such a good pitcher (throwing both R and L) that his base commander held him back to pitch in a game. The rest of his unit was wiped out, and he was reported killed in action. The dreaded telegram was sent to his wife, and it wasn’t until some months later that he was found to be alive. The story goes that a benefit game was organized to help out his wife, and he returned in time to pitch in that game! He played semi-pro ball from the age of 15 in the old industrial leagues in PA, and during/after the war played for the Topeka Owls. I have a few old newspaper pics/clippings mentioning the KIA status as well as the Quonset team that were handed down…”
I got right back to Chris and thanked him for his incredible story. I asked for a few photos and if I could share his great-uncle’s story and he accepted. Along with the newspaper clippings you see above and below, Chris added, “These old stories are indeed fascinating, and your own life experience growing up in such a place is awesome. My dad’s uncle was his hero growing up, and while he died the year I was born in 1972, the stories my dad and other older relatives told painted quite a picture of him to the point that I feel like I knew him too. I’m attaching the 2 relevant clips that have survived over the years about John Patrick. The older brother he mentioned in the one clip is my dad’s father, Frank Patrick, Sr. He spent nearly 30 years as a ballplayer and manager in the industrial leagues in Cambria, Co., PA. He worked in the mines, and would actually travel to places like Pittsburgh to find ball players and give them jobs in the mines to come and play for him.”
Just fascinating stuff here. Can you imagine the emotional roller coaster of the Patrick family? Son, brother, husband, family man goes off to war, proud Americans, does his duty here and abroad, is held back from a mission to pitch in a baseball game, his company is wiped out (sad to hear about this for those families involved), War Department doesn’t get the memo that Patrick is not with his company, declares him KIA, telegram goes home to the family, the grief in all that. Then, to actually be alive in the South Pacific somewhere and then return home to play in a benefit game for his family, because they need money because you passed away??? You can’t make this stuff up, it is so genuine, and so time period specific because of the way news traveled back in the late 1940s. The story, the newspaper clippings, the well-scripted emails from Chris Patrick, I feel like I know John Patrick a little more today than I did yesterday. And I am so the better for it. John Patrick, married man, Navy Man, Quonset Point NAS Pitcher for the Quonset Flyers with a story to match his brilliance on the mound. Thank you for your service.
Huge thanks to Chris Patrick for sharing the story of John Patrick, Jr. of Spangler, PA.
The Rhiter 
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