My first car: Some reflections
By Mike Morrow, the Eureka Reporter
It wasn't my first car, but I'll never forget the camouflage green Chevrolet Corvette convertible and a lasting memory it created at the parking lot at Anaheim Stadium.
Now this isn't so much a lasting memory, but one that won't go away, thanks to a handful of friends who like to bring it up every now and then.
Returning to the lot while on one of my regular Angels baseball sports writing assignments, I arrived to the sun-baked car, taking my place on the driver's side, putting the keys in the ignition and reaching for the steering wheel.
But something was missing — the steering wheel.
I remember sitting there for a few seconds, staring ahead, actually wondering what was missing. The truth that someone actually had removed the bolts and the steering wheel didn't hit me immediately.
Actually, I was more amused than angered or annoyed, and I returned to the press box, putting in a call to the newspaper's sports copy desk.
A couple of other writers, standing nearby, heard the conversation and started to chuckle, as did the Angels manager, who offered me a soft drink (knowing that I did not drink liquor of any kind) and some words of consolation.
Mike Waldner, our sports editor, was dispatched to pick me up and by the time he arrived from Torrance, driving his dark blue Porsche, he was able to watch the Corvette being placed on the tow truck for the return trip to the South Bay.
To this day, maybe 30 years later, Waldner is still shaking his head.