Today is the opening day of Major League Baseball; it's an exciting day for all baseball fans, including me.  I love the sexy Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies, Boston Red Sox, and Atlanta Braves (thanks to Vickie introducing me to Tim Hudson and John Schmoltz).  I recently purchased the MLB Premium Package with the new mosaic feature so I can watch multiple games. 

As much as I enjoy watching the majors play, I would like to dedicate this post to my great-grandfather, Arthur C. Hancey, my grandfather, Herb Oswald, and my grand-uncle, Denzel Hancey.   The newspaper article to the right (click to embiggen) mentions Great-Grandpa Hancey watching these four Lundberg brothers climb through the Snake River Baseball League that he both played and managed for 38 years.  He was also the founder of the Farmer's Community League. 

Great-Grandpa Hancey began playing baseball in 1896 and in 1910 became the manager of the Milo and Osgood teams (both small towns in Idaho, just north of Idaho Falls).   

 He later was a member and chairman of the Idaho State Athletic Commission, which included all sports.  He moved to the Salt Lake City area during World War II for work and lived there two years before he died.  This article mentions all he did for sports in Idaho and at the end of the article, the son it mentions, was my grand-uncle Denzel "Denz" Hancey who managed baseball teams in the Magna, Utah area. 

Denz used to play on the leagues in Idaho when he was growing up and he was one of the best players, until he also moved to Utah and married and raised his family there.  

My Grandpa Oswald had a deep passion for baseball and used to play with Denz and against him on other teams.  Grandpa was also one of the best players and pitchers in the leagues.  I am disappointed I couldn't find any photos of them playing but Mom thinks my aunt has some photos and I imagine Denz's children have photos of him playing baseball. 

I have baseball in my blood, however, they were die-hard Yankee fans and I am not.  I imagine they're looking down on me from heaven wondering what happened to me.  *snortle*  But then again, the Yankees have changed a lot since they were alive and if I lived back then, I probably would have liked them too. 

Some of the fondest memories I have of my grandpa was watching baseball with him; he told me about the players and what their strengths and weaknesses were.  I don't remember specifics since I was young, but I remember how fun it was to watch baseball with grandpa.