Beltin' Bill Melton

Michele and I were in NYC last week, so news of Bill Melton’s death came via phone call from Clare. It took some of the fun out of seeing the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. I remember Melton winning the AL homerun crown by hitting his 33rd homer on the last day of the season in 1971. It was a Thursday day game, and I had my dad’s car to drive to De Paul. Of course, the radio was tuned to the Sox game. Chuck Tanner had Melton batting leadoff so he’d get more at-bats; the homerun came in the third. Crown in hand, Melton gave way to Walt Williams. Wherever I was going, back home or to school for a late class, I had dreams of what next season might be. With the Sox trading for Dick Allen in the offseason, who know, they might’ve slipped past the A’s in 1972, if not for the devastating back injury Melton suffered after he fell off a roof in the offseason. What might have been. Not that Sox announcer Harry Caray cared. Melton was Caray’s default Sox player to ride. If Melton couldn’t regain his 1971 form, it was because he didn’t try hard enough. The attacks continued for four years, until Melton was traded after the 1975 season. The irony, of course, was that Melton became a Sox analyst himself. Melton was at the SoxFest Clare and I attended in 2019. I was tempted to ask him about Caray only to decide against it. I’m pretty sure what he would’ve said, though, that he always focused on the play, not the player. And that’s to his credit.