Sister Vincent Cecire, 94, tells her friend Sister Catherine Garry how she fell in love with baseball.
Originally aired April 1, 2011, on NPR’s Morning Edition.
Transcript
Sister Vincent Cecire (SVC) and Sister Catherine Garry (SCG)
SVC: I was in Brooklyn, New York teaching the third grade. The boys would come in with their baseball cards and I’d say, “It’s not time for baseball. Now put them on my desk.” And of course, while I give them work to do, I would look at the baseball cards.
Then, I went to New Orleans. I was a Dodger fan and Sister Archangel was a Yankee fan. Teams would come to play exhibition games and she and I would sneak in the Superdome. We never missed a game. And they called us the Nuns of Summer. When I came to Philadelphia from New Orleans, they took me to the Phillies. But I don’t like them. At the seventh inning, I have to stand up. But I didn’t get up. I sat. ‘Cause they’re not my team. I had a little boy whose father was a Philly. One day it was the Phillies and the Dodgers. So I asked this little boy to give his father the little notepad I had — go to the dugout for the Dodgers. And he gave me a few autographs. I thought I was going to heaven.
SCG: Is there anything you remember that was one of your happiest days?
SVC: Every day was happy for me. Especially when I met Tommy Lasorda. [laughs]
I learned baseball in Brooklyn. And to this very day, I am a Dodger fan.