Last Dance at BM

[km]

Bay Meadows (BM / BMF) will run its final race on Sunday, fittingly called the "Last Dance" stakes. The track is to be torn down in September after over 70 years in operation.

Willie Shoemaker began his career as an exercise boy at BM and Russell Baze rode the bulk of his record breaking winners there. Famous horses that won at BM included: Seabiscuit, Citation, Round Table, John Henry, Silky Sullivan and Lost in the Fog.

In the last 10 years the track had become a joke for many horseplayers because of the short fields and dominant status of Baze and a handful of super trainers such as Jerry Hollendorfer. Very similar to DEL. Still, the betting handle was always in the top 20 among tracks in North America year after year and purses were comparably good for a track without slots.

Santa Rosa and Golden Gate are expected to pick up most of the racing dates.

I'm saddened to see this happen, even though a certain attrition is necessary in the sport. There will be no memory of this track with development apparently obliterating the place as we saw with Longacres. When i visited LRL a couple of years ago and walked through the empty upstairs grandstand it reminded me of Bay Meadows. Same forgotten cavernous feel like a ghost town, and there are still windows with the "$2 Win/Place/Show", or "$5 Exacta" left over from 25 years ago at both tracks......

Sorry for the melancholy

[TEJASKIDD]

You forgot to mention that's where I started my career.....LOL
Many fond memories of that place....it hasn't been the same since they moved the barns to the infield....Used to play the ponies Wed-Sunday at the track and then we played golf in the infield on Mon and Tues. It'll be a sad day Sunday.

[delayjf]

Sorry for the melancholy
I feel your pain - still get that way about Ak-SAR-BEN from time to time.:(

[km]

Bay Meadows being auctioned off - interesting article details some of the items =

http://www.mercurynews.com:80/news/ci_10262569?source=email

(thanks to Ernie for providing the article)

[DanG]

Here is the auction brochure:

http://www.greatamerican.com/admin/uploads/events/8fc3c9af-ebce-4ecc-8dda-adec3d1f0bc2/Brochure-Bay%20Meadows(web).pdf


Web site of the auction house:

http://www.greatamerican.com/services/auctions.aspx

[Mark]

I didn't see the plywood box I hawked Jack's Green (Blue?) Card from in '85-86. Two stalls and "Jack", Ron Wasserman, told me on day 1 "the guy next to you rode the rails for years, so raise your voice or a dollar a card won't keep you in San Mateo long."

A beautiful setting even then, thanks for the catalog. Let the bidding begin.

[DanG]

I didn't see the plywood box I hawked Jack's Green (Blue?) Card from in '85-86. Two stalls and "Jack", Ron Wasserman, told me on day 1 "the guy next to you rode the rails for years, so raise your voice or a dollar a card won't keep you in San Mateo long."

A beautiful setting even then, thanks for the catalog. Let the bidding begin.
Great stuff Mark!!!

The Lawton / Jack’s little Green card guys were magic to me when I was a kid. Somehow you guys ALWAYS seemed to have the DD circled on the way out too! :)
http://i2.iofferphoto.com/img/1153810800/_i/13122538/1.jpg

[delayjf]

Let the bidding begin.
Indeed, Lord knows California doesn't have enough Walgreens, Pet Marts, Staples or Best Buys.

[km]

LOL Dan and Mark, that's great nostalgia

Even in the 1970s when i started going to the track as a teen i used to think "$2 for the tout full card picks, how good could that information be?" And then there were those circles all over the previous day's picks as Dan mentions.

Inflation seems to have little effect on the touts at the track, most of the cards are still priced $3-$5. But sales must be pretty dismal no matter how much they shout. I'm afraid those guys are doomed to the same graveyard as the 900 line selectors and $25 system sellers from Brooklyn. Tough to make a buck as a tout these days.

[MikeDee]

Gee it you don't have enough Walgreens we can send you some of ours.

I think the goal is to have 1 or more giantic drug stores on every corner in America.

The mark up in drugs must be huge.

[Donnie]

....can't wait for the old signage and stuff to start hitting EBay. Looks like a person coulda picked up a couple of nice sized TVs cheap. Wonder what they went for.....??

[Tom Barrister]

Gee it you don't have enough Walgreens we can send you some of ours.

I think the goal is to have 1 or more giantic drug stores on every corner in America.

The mark up in drugs must be huge.

Back in the day, many drug stores were franchises which were owned or semi-owned by one or more pharmacists. Schlegel's, a drug store chain in the Midwest, was one of these franchises.

Back in the mid 60's, I was with my father in a Schlegel's store. He had all of the tubes from our TV set (sets back then operated on vacuum tubes--the first solid state TV didn't come out until 1968), and he was plugging them into the tube tester, one by one, trying to find the weak ones that needed replacing.

Nearby was the pharmacy window. At the window was an older woman, probably in her mid 80's, talking to the pharmacist. The woman was hard of hearing, and the pharmacist had to repeat several things to her. The woman was also apparently the only person who didn't know she was hard of hearing.

Pharmacist: Yes, Mrs. Jenkins, your doctor phoned in the prescription.

Mrs. Jenkins: Oh? Did you have a nice chat with your sister?

Pharmacist (louder): No, I said your doctor phoned in your PRESCRIPTION (shows her the bottle).

Mrs. Jenkins: Well say hello to your sister for me. (points to the bottle). Now is that drug safe?

Pharmacist (lower voice): No, we're doing our part to reverse the population explosion.

Mrs. Jenkins: Eh?

Pharmacist: It's not safe, but we have plenty of other drugs that will take care of whatever problem it may cause.

Mrs. Jenkins: Speak up, young man; I can't hear you.

Pharmacist (loud): We've never had a problem from anybody who used it (lower voice) God rest their souls.

Mrs. Jenkins: Well good! So I take how many of these?

Pharmacist: It's right here on the bottle (points). Take one three times a day.

Mrs. Jenkins: So the bottle says I should take one three times a day, right?

Pharmacist (nodding head): Yes.

Mrs. Jenkins: How much do I owe you, Mr. Fennelly?

Pharmacist: That'll be ten dollars and fifty cents (this in 1966 money, about $55 today).

Mrs. Jenkins: How much?

Pharmacist (louder): Ten dollars and fifty cents.

Mrs. Jenkins: Speak up, boy!

Pharmacist (yelling): TEN DOLLARS....AND FIFTY.......CENTS!

Mrs. Jenkins: Well you don't have to shout; I'm not deaf, you know! (opens her purse)

At that point, the phone rang.

Pharmacist: Here you are. I have to answer the (louder) PHONE. (points to the phone).

Mrs. Jenkins: Oh the phone! Say hello to your sister for me!

The pharmacist sighed, put the prescription down on the counter and walked over to answer the phone, which was at the other end of the pharmacy, near the drop-off window.

I would imagine that everybody in the store, and in the two or three block vicinity, now knew the price of Mrs. Jenkins' prescription.

Except, of course, for Mrs. Jenkins. She fished through her purse, pulled out two quarters, dropped them on the counter, took her prescription, and walked towards the door.

I nudged my father and pointed out what was happening. He informed me that it wasn't any of our busiiness, and to keep quiet. I found out later, that he didn't like Mr. Jenkins, although I don't remember the reason.

The pharmacist returned to the pick-up window, just as Mrs. Jenkins reached the front door to the drug store. He realized what had happened.

Pharmacist (shouting): MRS. JENKINS! IT'S TEN DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS.... (louder) TEN....DOLLARS...AND FIFTY CENTS!

Of course, Mrs. Jenkins couldn't hear him, and she continued on her way out of the door.

Man at the window: Do you want me to go tell her, Mike?

Pharmacist (shaking head): No, let her go. She's a good customer, and I'll get it back when she comes in again. (Opens the register and drops the fifty cents in). Anyway, forty cents profit is better than nothing.