Above: “Francis Joseph “Lefty” O’Doul (March 4, 1897 – December 7, 1969) was an American Major League Baseball player who went on to become an extraordinarily successful manager in the minor leagues. He was also a vital figure in the establishment of professional baseball in Japan.” O’Doul played for the Giants in 1933 and 1934.I heard a little ‘nugget’ on the Golf Channel this morning told by San Francisco native Jaime Diaz. If you get a chance to watch the entire piece, it is a wonderful description of why San Francisco is such an amazing golf city. The story is about San Francisco’s city championship. “The City”, as the local championship is known, is the oldest consecutively played competition in the world.
I can’t find the year or anything online substantiating this, but Diaz tells a story of Lefty O’Doul competing against 12-year old Johnny Miller in ‘The City’. They get to the 18th hole all square and the tees are so far back that 12-year old Miller has no chance of getting his tee ball in play. O’Doul picks up the tee markers and walks them up to the uppermost box, and simply says, “We will play from here.” Miller wins the match!
