Bona: Ex-Indian Hal Naragon recalls famous handshake, teammate 50 years after leaving baseball
From Marc Bona at Cleveland.com on August 27, 2019:
Often a former player will make their way to Progressive Field, with fanfare, his walk to a seat delayed by fans wanting to say hi or ask for an autograph. Sometimes media will seek interviews on the field, offering a chance for the player to reminisce about his glory days in Cleveland. Sometimes, though, that appearance is quiet, under the radar, and not about attention. It might just be about a 90 year-old man seeking to take in a ballgame with his wife and family.
Like when Hal Naragon visited recently. Naragon played 10 seasons in the Majors before moving on to become a well-respected coach. This year marks the 50th since he left baseball.
He was part of three World Series teams – as a player with Cleveland in 1954, and as a coach with Minnesota in 1965 and coach with Detroit in 1968. Raised in Barberton, he formed a battery in high school with Bo Schembechler and remembers a famous handshake with Indians owner and baseball pioneer Bill Veeck.
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That handshake launched a career that would be interrupted briefly by a stint in the Marines, a time that – according to his Society for American Baseball Research biography – he never complained about, knowing others had it tougher.
Read the full article here: https://www.cleveland.com/tribe/2019/08/ex-indian-hal-naragon-recalls-famous-handshake-teammate-50-years-after-leaving-baseball.html
Originally published: August 27, 2019. Last Updated: August 27, 2019.