Here is my Frank Howard tale, as it has nothing to do with him playing baseball,
but more on a personal side to him.

This may be a repeat to some on this list, as new members are now on the list,
since I wrote this and it is worth sharing again. Plus someone in CA was asking
about Frank Howard stories, so I thought I would like this again.

In 1966, when I was 11 years, we belong to the Georgian Country Club, on Georgia
Avenue, right before Aspen Hill, MD. It wasn't really a country club, per say,
as most people belong for the pool and there was no golf course. We were not
rich people, but for my father to come with the yearly fee for the pool, of $295
or so, was allot of money to our family.

Anyway, Frank Howard and his family was renting a house in the Fox Hall
development on Georgia Avenue and they belong to the pool.

Frank would come to the pool during the day of course, since most games are at
night and he would bring the entire family, his wife and all nine of his kids,
who where quite young. younger than me. We, the non-Howard kids, where scarce
to death of bother him, so we left him alone, not bugging him for autographs or
anything. Maybe it was part fear of this very TALL and BIG man, who always was
quite happy at the pool, no matter how badly the Senators were playing, and
partly, because we respected his need for privacy.

But my Dad, did speak to him once and Howard complaint to my Dad, in a nice way,
that he wanted more interaction with us, the other kids! But we still stayed
cleared of him.

But I still have this memory of him, in the pool, with all of his kids clinging
to him, and Howard making motor boat noises and going around the pool like that
motor boat. A site you wouldn't believe coming from a big who could belt out
those giantganic home runs!

Image a player today belonging to a "public pool" today. No, they would have a
giantganic pool at their gianganic home somewhere.

A great side of Frank Howard I will never forget, as many didn't see the other
side of him, outside of baseball in those days of the 1960's.

Sadly, the Georgian Country Club is no more, as the land was sold and it now
single family homes, going for about 500,000 to 800,000 dollars! And in Aspen
Hill, MD, the Kroger's, the Drug Fair, the A&P, Dart Drug, including those
Lawyers at Dart Drug (Cheap Drugs, Cheap Lawyer Service, LOL) and the Scan
Furniture store are gone too! And long live Martins Dairy and Hines Hatchery in
Olney, MD and Kramer's Pool, further out on Route 97, AKA Georgia Avenue. Like
the Washington Senators, all is becoming a faded memory, soon to be forgotten in
time. Sad, isn't it?

Mike Marmer
Germantown, MD

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]