Tags: I see it this way!

The above photograph appears on the website of Ted Silary, sportswriter and human being extraordinaire. I got a call from Ted tonight to tell me about a picture I took 30 years ago. Since my spelling and grammar can be disappointing at times, I'll let you read what Ted wrote tonight on his site: -------- -------------- The instant I first took a look at the rosters for this doubleheader, the thought hit me: Dayna McCrewell, a player for Cheltenham, HAS to be the daughter of former Germantown High football and basketball star Dana McCrewell (class of 1979). Today, before the girls’ game began, I went over to Dayna and asked her, “Is your dad named Dana? The guy who played for Germantown?” She answered yes. “Is he here today?” She pointed him out across the way, maybe five rows up in the stands, pretty much at midcourt. I had to go over to say hello. We talked briefly and I mentioned that I’d never forgotten the classic picture that ran in the Daily News the day Germantown beat Central in a baseball game. (Yes, G-town was good back then.) It was taken by good-guy staff photographer E.W. Faircloth, known to all of us as “Wayne” or “Cloth”, and showed Dana, in his football jacket, ringing up a Central batter, as an umpire would (with extra flair, of course), at the side of the batting cage (the game was played at Germantown’s field). After I got back to the Daily News tonight and finished the two stories for the paper and downloaded the assorted game pics, I told myself, “I’m gonna look for the picture.” It didn’t take long to find it. I have forever saved stories month by month by month in envelopes and, for whatever reason, I started searching for this one in April. There it was, early in the pile. Not just early. On an incredible date. The story, highlighting winning pitcher Ricky Ford, appeared in the DN that was published April 6, 1979. As did the photo of Dana McCrewell. So, yes, that means Cloth took the picture April 5. EXACTLY 30 YEARS AGO TO THE DAY! Amazing. Cloth has been retired for a while now. A former photo department co-worker had his number and I called him at about 9:50, just to run the story past him and to inform him that I’d be doing a blurb for the website. It was good to hear his voice again. We always got along well because No. 1 he was a friendly, easy-going guy and No. 2 he never treated high school assignments like something he’d stepped in. Always appreciated. This picture is a classic example of that. Cloth saw something different and snapped a tremendous pic! Dana was a character and his antics this day stole the show (ha ha ha). As a side note, Ricky Ford holds a place in city history. One year earlier, also against Central (on May 28, 1978), he was the losing pitcher in a double no-hitter. The winning hurler was Joe Starosta. In THIS game, G-town won, 6-3, and two of the Central runs scored on a homer by a soph third baseman named John Marzano. John, now deceased, moved to catcher as a junior and went on to make the major leagues. Anyway, I couldn’t help detailing all of this. I did make copies of the page and sent them to an address I found for Dana. Hope he enjoys them. Continued success to Dana and Dayna and all family members. As well as to Cloth and his loved ones. Here's the pic . . ----------- --------------------- Here's the actual webpage. Thanks, Teddy, you're still one great guy!