(This
posted 7/22/2016)
New
York City.
Some
people have never been there. Linfielder Larry Hermo, Class of 1959, has
visited it eight times.
His
eighth visit was in late June 2016, with his wife, Sharon; granddaughter, Megan
Hermo, and Megan’s friend Santi Hart, both Milwaukie, Ore., High School
students.
Back-to-back
visit highlights for the four of them were Thursday, June 30, involving national television
and the New York Yankees.
They
got up early that Thursday morning and arrived at 5:30 at the ABC-TV “Good Morning America” outside set in New
York’s Times Square. The show went on the air at 7 in the morning.
They
were at the front of a crowd of people and appeared during the program’s
national broadcast.
This
photo, taken from the broadcast, shows Larry proudly wearing a Linfield shirt.
Then, left to right, next to Larry, are Sharon, Santi and Megan, all are
wearing New York Yankee shirts.
After
they left the TV set, they made their way to Yankee Stadium to watch the Texas
Rangers play the NY Yankees is a game which started at 1:05 p.m. Thursday. Yankees won, 2-1.
In
his long tenure as head baseball coach at Rex Putnam High School in Milwaukie,
Ore. one of Larry’s players was Linfielder Scott Brosius.
A
member of Linfield Class of 2001, Brosius went on to play and star for
Linfield, lettering in the 1985, 1986 and 1987 seasons.
After
a Major League playing career with the Oakland Athletics and New York Yankees,
Brosius coached baseball at Linfield and, as head coach, led the Wildcats to
the 2013 NCAAD3 national championship.
At
Yankee Stadium, Larry saw Brosius play for the Yankees in the 2000 and 2001
World Series.
In
a Series game played in 2001, Larry watched Brosius come to bat with a Yankee
on base. Brosius hit a home run with two out in the bottom of the ninth. That
tied the score. In the 11th inning, Brosius bunted to advance a runner and the
Yankees won with a base hit.
POSTSCRIPTS
-In
January 1999, after Brosius was named MVP of the 1998 World Series, Putnam High
honored Larry and Brosius with an open house. During it, uniform #1 (Larry) and
#3 (Brosius) were retired. Jerseys #1 and #3 are on display in a Putnam showcase.
-An
“ABC-TV Good Morning America” camera operator asked Larry about Linfield
football. Larry responded with info about “The Streak.” The camera operator was
“totally impressed,” said Larry.
-Megan
is the daughter of Brad and Debra Hermo, son and daughter-in-law of the Hermos.
Like Brosius, Brad played at Linfield for Coach Scott Carnahan. Brad lettered
in the 1983-1984-1985 and 1986 seasons. Thus, Brad was a Linfield baseball
teammate of Brosius for two seasons.
-Brosius’
last season playing Major League baseball was 2001.
