Train Wreck

By Mike Hall, November 1, 2022

It was May of 1965 and our family had just moved from Kansas City to Arvada, Colorado.

Surely, you could say we’d never find barbecue in Colorado to match Gates, Snead’s or The Smokestack in K.C..

Before entering high school at Arvada West, a much younger cowboy decided to play summer baseball in a junior league.

It was a bluebird day in early May and we were practicing at Fremont Elementary school near the high school. The batter hit a high pop up to short center field. I raced from the outfield and collided face to face with Frank ‘The Tank’ Thompson.

It felt like a train wreck and both of us lay on the ground writhing in pain. I don’t think The Tank had any real injuries but I had a concussion and two front teeth barely hanging on.

The root canals with Dr. Richard Gander followed and may you never have to have one…it was as bad as knee replacement.

I’m sure Frank has forgotten this baseball memory and that Dr. Gander is long gone.

I tend to remember all of the five concussions experienced growing up and this one matches the run in with a tree at Meadowlake Country Club in Kansas City.

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