Charles and Vendella decided to move from Los Angeles and buy a house in Long Beach, California, a location they chose because of its schools, parks, and youth sports options throughout the year. Charles Jr. played college baseball and became a teacher; Tony and younger brother Chris became MLB players. Charles and Vendella were civil servants who were tag-team parents. Charles Sr. worked at a warehouse from 7:30 A.M. until 5:00 P.M., and he also coached Pop Warner football and Little League Baseball; Vendella worked at the post office from 5:30 P.M. until 3:00 A.M. Both parents instilled in their sons the value of being prepared.
Charles encouraged his sons to play ball in the makeshift baseball field that he assembled in their backyard. The setup was a narrow strip of grass that was longer than wide. Pulling the ball too much resulted in it being lost over the neighbor's fence, but left field being short ruled out hitting it to the opposite field as well. Once the brothers' supply of wiffle balls was exhausted, they resorted to using a sock rolled in rubber bands, a wad of tape, or a hardened fig from a neighbor's tree. Growing up, the boys attended Los Angeles Dodgers games and watched their hero, Willie Davis; the Dodgers outfielder had twice as many stolen bases as home runs (398 SB, 182 HR) in his career. Tony admired Davis for being black, left-handed, and "aggressive but under control"; he respected Davis' work habits as well.
Charles and Vendella decided to move from Los Angeles and buy a house in Long Beach, California, a location they chose because of its schools, parks, and youth sports options throughout the year. Charles Jr. played college baseball and became a teacher; Tony and younger brother Chris became MLB players. Charles and Vendella were civil servants who were tag-team parents. Charles Sr. worked at a warehouse from 7:30 A.M. until 5:00 P.M., and he also coached Pop Warner football and Little League Baseball; Vendella worked at the post office from 5:30 P.M. until 3:00 A.M. Both parents instilled in their sons the value of being prepared.
Charles encouraged his sons to play ball in the makeshift baseball field that he assembled in their backyard. The setup was a narrow strip of grass that was longer than wide. Pulling the ball too much resulted in it being lost over the neighbor's fence, but left field being short ruled out hitting it to the opposite field as well. Once the brothers' supply of wiffle balls was exhausted, they resorted to using a sock rolled in rubber bands, a wad of tape, or a hardened fig from a neighbor's tree. Growing up, the boys attended Los Angeles Dodgers games and watched their hero, Willie Davis; the Dodgers outfielder had twice as many stolen bases as home runs (398 SB, 182 HR) in his career. Tony admired Davis for being black, left-handed, and "aggressive but under control"; he respected Davis' work habits as well.
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