A Very Special Evening

In the spring of 1953, I was a nine-year-old Boston Red Sox fan. I played stick ball in my schoolyard at Saint Mary’s in Fall River, Massachusetts. I collected old newspapers, sold them for scrap, and used a por­tion of the proceeds to buy bubble gum baseball cards. My parents had recently bought our first television, and now I could watch the Red Sox play.

Television was still in its infancy at that time. There were not many channels or programs to choose from. One of the weekly shows aired on the ABC network was a prime time half-hour game show, The Name’s The Same. A celebrity panel tried to guess the identities of guest contestants who had the same name as famous people, famous places, or famous objects. Each pan­elist could ask up to ten yes or no questions of the guests. All panelists who could not identify the guest had to pay him or her twenty-five dollars.

Each week, the show featured a celebrity guest in a segment called, ”I’d Like to Be.” If that celebrity guest could be anyone else other than himself, that name was revealed to the audience and the panel would try to guess that name. The celebrity guest would donate their winnings to their favorite charity.

The panel consisted of Meredeth Willson, an author, conductor, and composer of The Music Man. Joan Alexander was a radio and television actress. Carl Reiner was a comedian on the popular television program Show of Shows. The host and moderator was Robert Q. Lewis. I was invited to appear on this pro­gram as a contestant because I had what was then a famous name, Tommy Manville.

The famous bearer of this name was a multi-mil­lionaire playboy who was heir to the Johns Manville asbestos fortune. He was married thirteen times to eleven women. He described himself as “a retired business man.” After one of his frequent divorces, he was quoted as saying, “she cried and the judge wiped her tears with my checkbook.” Although we shared the same name, we were not related.

My dad drove my mom, my older brother Bill, and myself to New York City. We had never been there, nor had I ever been that far from home. I was going to appear on a national television program and meet some famous people. It would prove to be a very spe­cial evening for a young baseball fan.

When we arrived at the television studio, my dad and brother were seated in the audience. My mom was seated backstage with me. All of the contestants with famous names were introduced to each other except for the celebrity guest, who had not yet arrived. I met Dorothy Lamour, A.(rlene) Stork, and Henry Clay. The show was about to begin, and we were asked to be as quiet as possible. This was live television and a monitor was placed in front of us to view the show.

Dorothy Lamour, a New York City housewife, was the first contestant. While she was being questioned by the panel, a young man arrived backstage and was seated next to my mom. He looked familiar to me. I really could not concentrate on him because I was thinking that soon I would be seen by millions of view­ers. After a series of questions by Carl Reiner and Joan Alexander, Dorothy Lamour’s name was correctly guessed by Meredith Willson.

The next contestant was a 15-year-old high school student from Brigatine, New Jersey, A. Stork. After determining that her namesake delivered something, the panelist asked her if it involved a mailbox, a coal chute, or something with a ladder, a long hose, and painted red. Meredith Willson asked, “Does it haul away garbage?” Joan Alexander finally guessed the name of A. Stork. Now it was time for the celebrity guest to appear in the ”I’d Like to Be” seg­ment.

The young man next to my mom rose from his chair and walked toward the stage. Robert Q. Lewis introduced him with these words: “Here is one of the greatest young guys in organized baseball that I ever had the pleasure of meeting, Mr. Mickey Mantle.” To say that I was surprised would be an understatement. This was not someone with the same name as Mickey Mantle. This was the real Mickey Mantle–the Mick. The tele­vision monitor now had my complete undivided atten­tion.

Evidently, the Yankees had played an extra-inning game the previous night. Mr. Lewis remarked to Mickey, “I had a very pleasant twelve hours watching you play last night. Do you guys get paid for a double­ header?” Mickey replied, “No, but next year they are going to sign us by the hour.” Now it was time to reveal, to the audience, the name of the person that Mickey Mantle would want to be. It was Prince Philip of England. (I had hoped that Mickey, now in his third year as a Yankee, would want to be my hero, Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox.) Mr. Lewis reminded everyone that all of Mickey’s winnings would be donated to his favorite charity. Joan Alexander evoked some laughter when she said that Mickey’s favorite charity was the Dodgers, no doubt.

The questioning began with Meredith Willson, who wanted to know the distance of the long home run that Mickey had recently hit. That home run is gener­ally regarded as the longest ever hit in the major leagues. He hit it off the Washington Senators’ Chuck Stobbs, on April 17, 1953, at Griffith Stadium. Mr. Willson wanted to know if it was 562 or 563 feet. Mickey modestly replied, “562 feet, I think.” Through a series of questions by Mr. Willson, the panel learned that the per­son Mickey would want to be was a living man and not an American.

It was now Carl Reiner’s turn to ask questions. Mr. Reiner immediately commented, “Most people want to be Mickey Mantle. Why you want to be anyone else, I don’t know.” Mickey’s answers to Mr. Reiner’s questions determined that the person was a European who spoke English and not a sports figure.

An amusing verbal exchange was started by Joan Alexander. She asked if the person was from England or in England now. Mickey answered yes. She then asked if he is a young and handsome man. Mr. Lewis asked her to clarify what she considered “young.” Her reply was, “Oh, about Meredith’s age.” This response prompted Meredith Willson to kiss Joan Alexander on the cheek. Mr. Lewis then looked at his fingernails, brushed his hair, smiled, and asked, “What do you mean by … handsome?” Miss Alexander imme­diately replied, “Someone who looks like Mickey Mantle.”

With a few more questions it was established that the person was indirectly involved in politics, connect­ed with royalty, and originally from Greece. Referring to Princess Elizabeth, Miss Alexander asked Mickey, “Is he married to a very beautiful lady who will be a star in a ceremony very soon?” Mickey said, “Yes.” Her final question was, “Would you like to be Prince Philip?” Again, Mickey replied, “Yes.” Mr. Lewis thanked Mickey for being a contestant, and in parting, commented, “Mickey, you don’t have to be anybody in the whole world except one of the best Yankees there has ever been.” Mickey walked over to the panelists, said good night, and collected his winnings to give to his favorite charity.

Presumably, the Brooklyn Dodgers were fifty dollars richer.

It was now my turn to be a contestant. I was led to one end of the stage while Mickey exited at the other end. I did not want to appear nervous, and was hoping to get through this as quickly as possible. I wanted to return backstage and talk to Mickey about baseball. I walked onto the stage, and Mr. Lewis placed a Manhattan ­telephone directory on my chair so that I could see over the desk. It was a thrill to be on this television stage with these famous people. I was asked a series of questions by the panel in an attempt to determine the occupation of my namesake, Tommy Manville. He really did not have an occupation. After the panel discovered he was wealthy, and had inherited his fortune, Joan Alexander asked me if he had been married many times. I answered, “Yes.” Her final question to me was, ”Are you Tommy Manville?” Again, I replied, “Yes.” The audience applauded and Mr. Lewis thanked me for being a contestant. I walked over to the panel, shook hands, and collected two twenty-five dollar checks. I returned backstage, sat down, and looked around for Mickey Mantle.

The final contestant was Henry Clay, a service tech­nician from Long Island, New York. Upon questioning Mr. Clay, the panel learned that his namesake was not living and was involved in politics. Joan Alexander was trying to pinpoint the time frame that the person was in politics. Mr. Lewis had to stop the questioning at that point because time was running out for the show. Mr. Clay collected his winnings, and the host and panelists said good night to the audience.

Henry Clay rejoined his fellow contestants backstage and we were invited to return to the stage to have our photographs taken with Robert Q. Lewis. I had to stand on a chair for my photo because Mr. Lewis was tall and I was not. After the photo, I asked one of the stage personnel if Mickey Mantle was still in the theater, and he said Mickey had to leave because of another engagement. I was a little disappointed that I did not get to talk to Mickey about baseball.

On the very bright side, I did get to go to New York City. I did appear on a national television show and meet some famous people. As a contestant, I was in the same  lineup as Mickey Mantle. I now have a video of that program and I am able to relive my wonderful experience. For a nine­ year-old baseball fan, it was, indeed, a very special evening.

TOMMY MANVILLE lives in Tiverton, Rhode Island, and is a life­long Boston Red Sox fan.