Great Uncle Mike

[Deleted]

May 26, 2012 21:29:31 GMT -5 dave said:

45 Bleecker St. may have been where 145 Bleecker is today ... or was ... (approximately), on the south side of Bleecker near the intersection of Charlotte St.

That area is now under construction for the new CENTRO Bus Station. Charlotte St is now closed and will no longer exist.

[dave]

Too bad, I guess, for memories' sake. I remember Leuberts, where various members of my family could be found, probably since it opened.

Fiona took photos of Post St. when she heard it too might be affected.

They are at:

morestories.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=history&action=display&thread=33&page=41

[dave]

So it was summers home in Utica for Great Uncle Mike. He had his pride after all. A deal is a deal. And when the team that inherited him would not pay the agreed upon $3500, he no doubt said, "to hell with ya!" He never played professional baseball again.

Mike's Bleecker Street.

[dave]

By this time, Mike, my great uncle, was ready to settle down and start his own family. He was allied with his father and uncle in the tobacco business on Bleecker and was a qualified cigar maker. He had bigger plans of course. And there is probably a limit to how long a father and son can work with each other. I guess I should say some fathers and sons.

Mike's father, Patrick, was known far and wide for his pleasant personality, generosity and way with people. By this stage in life he had become a successful businessman, the "go to" person for business advice in Utica, a NY State legislator (from whence the "Honorable" in his address), Utica's City Treasurer for a term, the IRS agent in Utica (there needed to be only one) and Utica's Overseer of the Poor. Though few today know of it, Patrick while in the State Assembly introduced a law calling for the use of Utica's old Erie Canal weighlock as the foundation stone of the Oriskany Battle Monument.

But at home I imagine Patrick could be a bear, or so thought my grandfather, his dispossessed son, William.

[dave]

Great Uncle Mike's brother, William, was my grandfather. He died before I was born and I never met him. He sired 5 sons and two daughters by my grandmother, Mary Lynch Griffin, who died before William.

I don't know the cause of Patrick and William's estrangement. I suspect my grandfather may have been a disappointment to his father. I don't even know for sure that they were angry with each other, but I never heard anything about these people when growing up, except that I had a great uncle who played baseball in the (then) last century and his photo hung in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Of course, that part of the family was all dead by the time I was born. Great Uncle Mike left three children and one became a dentist in Utica. We knew very little about that side of the family until an impromptu family reunion about 5 or 6 years ago that I was unable to attend because of obligations in my own family.

From what I can tell in old newspapers (Utica's Daily Press and Observer Dispatch) in retirement Dr. Robert Griffin was a part time dentist for the Utica Health Department by the early 1960's. He was never mentioned in my memory. My father was not a resentful or vindictive man ... far from it. It may be the case that he simply did not know that part of his family and had nothing to say about them.

[dave]

As far as I know, there is no record of Mike's thoughts about posing for a photo as he jumps down on a blanket spread before a painted canvas backdrop (of what, it's hard to tell,) as though pursuing a ball dropping into center field. I presume that in one way or another he received some compensation from the Old Judge Tobacco Company, baseball card division.


www.windsweptpress.com/images/mike canvas.jpg[/img]

[dave]

Note the length and narrow girth of the bat. This is Mike playing for Baltimore in 1888, before he joined the Brooklyn team.

[bobbbiez]

Wow Dave, your uncle Mike would be extremely shocked at what the pro players get paid today.

Unreal that you just recently found out about that side of your family. It's too bad you couldn't make the reunion cause you probably would have found out much more of your family's past history. All very interesting to say the least.

[dave]

Thanks, Bobbie. Yes, it was unfortunate that I didn't get to the reunion, but life is a series of choices and it was my granddaughter's birthday.


As mentioned earlier, my cousin's son, Steven Griffin of Utica did the bulk of research on Great Uncle Mike. Here's another article on Mike .... this written in 2004 and appearing in the Utica Observer Dispatch ... that also chronicles Steven's tireless efforts to promote the memory of one great baseball player.


www.uticaod.net/site_html/SPECIAL_CONTENT/halloffame/sports/griffin_mike.htm


Here's another article. You can enlarge it and with a little difficulty you should be able to read it. Written in 2008, Steven tells the reporter about his work on behalf of Uncle Mike.

[dave]

One can see Mike beginning to look "mature" in this photo of the 1896 Brooklyn team. By that I mean he took on a little weight. This is one of the few team pictures where the players appear in business attire.

[dave]

Here's the Utica ball club in 1884.

[dave]

These photos show Mike in the field, center field evidently, but location is unknown.

Click to enlarge, twice for Firefox.

[dave]

Brooklyn Base Ball Club, 1894 to 1898.

Click to enlarge, Firefox users click twice.

[dave]

In the 1897 team photo, Mike's hair appears longer than usual. I noticed it because my older brother's hair was that shape when he was younger. They look quite alike, actually at that age ... my older brother and his Great Uncle Mike. In most photos, Uncle Mike looked more like my younger brother and often like my father.

[dave]

1898, Mike's final year in baseball. A new career awaits him, as well as his sweetheart, Peggy.