Sunday, Jul. 12, 2009

All-Star game a treat for Belleville sisters

Belleville women took home a piece of 1966 contest

1966 was a banner year for two young Belleville sisters -- and they have the banner to prove it.

Lynn Veto and Rhonda Goretzke unfurled their prize as they shared their memories from the 1966 All-Star Game in St. Louis. The semicircle of red, white and blue bunting still has the burlap twine that tied it to the Busch Stadium wall.

"I don't want to tell you how we got it," Goretzke said with a laugh. But she did. Caught up in the jubilation after the National League won the game 2-1 in 10 innings, "Everyone was taking the banners. Not one was left."

"We felt kind of bad walking out with it," Veto said. "We thought the security guard was going to take it away from us. But he didn't care. He had one, too."

Veto, now 62, and Goretzke, 59, were both registered nurses at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville until Veto retired in June. But in 1966, they were teenage girls determined to see a piece of history.

"We got up early at 5 a.m. the day before to wait for tickets," Goretzke said.

"The line was two or three blocks long, halfway around the stadium," Veto said. She pulled out her ticket -- Section 589, Row 10, Seat 19 -- in the left field bleachers. The price: $2.

Was it worth the wait?

"Definitely," they said in unison.

"The best part," Veto said, "was just to see all of those different Hall of Famers -- Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Ron Santo. ..."

Much of the game itself is a blur.

"When you were 16 and you're 59 now, you forget a lot of stuff," Goretzke said. "I don't even remember who threw our the first pitch."

They remember the heat.

"Most of the fans wore some kind of hats to shade their faces," Veto said. "We wore Cardinal caps."

"We were sunburned to a crisp from sitting in the bleachers all day," Goretzke added. "There was a lot of drinking going on around us, and they were taking people out from the heat. We put ice and ice water on ourselves to keep cool. It didn't bother us."

It was a party atmosphere and the girls fit right in.

Lynn pulled out a 17-inch horn they brought to the game.

"Waaaaahhhhhhhh!"

She tooted it just like she did in '66. It definitely gets your attention.

"At the time, you were allowed to bring in horns," Veto said. "This is a truck horn off my dad's old Studebaker."

She painted it red and added a Red Bird decal.

"Waaaaaaahhhhhh!"

"They quit (letting fans bring horns) after a while," Veto said. "Yeah, because it was steel and you could hit somebody on the head with it," Goretzke said.

The attendance that day was 49,936.

"They posted it on the scoreboard and I wrote it down. See?" Veto said, showing her 1966 All-Star Game program in mint condition. She had kept score in pencil. From Detroit's Dick McAuliffe grounding out to third in the top of the first to Maury Wills' single in the 10th that drove in Tim McCarver for the winning run.

The crowd went crazy," Goretzke said, "That was our hometown boy scoring."

"After the game, people were screaming, walking all over around the stadium, horns blowing . ...

Veto couldn't resist another toot.

"Waaaaahhhhhhhh!"

Growing up Cardinal fans

The Gansmann girls have been big Cardinals fans "since we were itty bitty," Goretzke said. "Dad (Clement Gansmann) was a huge fan, too. We always listened to the Cardinals.

"The summer of '61 was the first time we were allowed to go to a Cardinals game by ourselves. They let us take the bus from Belleville to Grand, and we caught the bus Sportsman's Park at Grand and Dodier. I can't believe our parents let us do that. It was a different time."

They agreed they liked Sportsman's Park and the first Busch Stadium better than the new Busch Stadium.

"It hasn't grown on us yet," Goretzke said. "It's fine but all of our memories are in the old stadium."

"I like the bleachers at the new stadium," Lynn chimed in," because the seats have backs. It's more comfortable."

The players were different in the old days, too,

"I think in the Sixties, they played hard because they were playing for the little money they made. Nowadays, they are paid a lot of money and they're not as friendly."

The Gansmann girls would seek out players before and after games to get autographs.

"They didn't know us by name, but they knew us. They'd say 'Hi.' They'd walk to their cars on the parking lot and people would yell to them," Goretzke said.

"You could go down at batting practice and they'd sign your scorecards. Now you have to wait in line at one of those booths and pay them," Veto said, crinkling her nose and making a face.

Today, the sisters share a pair of season tickets with their husbands.

They were suprised they could get two tickets for the game, the home run derby and all the other events.

"We haven't decided among the four of us who is going to the game," Goretzke said. "But we're dying to go."

If they do, they'll have to leave the Studebaker horn at home.

"Waaaahhhhhhhh!"

Rhonda Goretzke

Age: 59

Residence: Belleville

Occupation: Registered nurse, St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville

Family: Husband, Glenn; three daughters, Amy, Lara and Carla

Favorite Cardinals in 1966: Kenny Boyer, Bob Gibson

Favorite Cardinals today: "I like Rick Ankiel because he overcame so much. He could have given up, but he didn't."

Lynn Veto

Age: 62

Residence: Belleville

Occupation: Registered nurse, retired from St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Belleville

Family: Husband, Bob; daughter, Nicole

Favorite Cardinals in 1966: Ken Boyer, Tim McCarver, Bob Gibson

Favorite Cardinals today: "Albert (Pujols), of course. I can't pick out anybody this year. I think it takes a team to win, so they're all my favorites."