• Oosterbaan, Banners and Books

    So as we limp charge confidently into Saturday’s opener a few notes: Oosterbaan: You know the great Bennie O. will be honored Saturday and his #47 will be on the back of someone on the roster for the remainder of the year.  (Jeremy Jackson?  Not sure, but looking forward to finding out.)   But if you pick up a game program, I prepared a profile on Oosterbaan that attempted to get a feel for what the man was like off the field.  It includes a few stories from his family and one from my man ‘64 Jim Conley.  A sneak peak: “He had huge mitts,” Conley recalled. One day Oosterbaan was teaching the players about how they needed to be ready to catch the ball wherever it came—high, low or to the right or left. Bennie then asked a player throw errant balls in his direction. “We tossed him a low one and he leaned down, tipped the ball up with one hand and caught it in the other hand. Then he did the same thing with a high ball, and then with a ball over to the side, and so on. He didn’t drop anything. Keep in mind he was in his late 50s and wearing a suit. It was an exhibition–you just marveled at it.” The Banner:  Did you…