At fourteen, I was still too young to comprehend the meaning or significance of the stories they told. But I remembered something that Tom Barkley said—the man we saw back in 1958 in the Dugout that my grandmother didn't want my great-grandfather to talk about.

"Your great-grandpappy was one hell of man," he told me. "Most folks have no idea what he did in his life. I can tell you one thing—he had hell in his neck, but he always measured a full sixteen hands high, and he had more guts than you could hang on a fence."

I had no idea what Barkley was talking about at the time. Later, I learned those words were high praise—meaning my great-grandfather was a determined, courageous, and honest man who had considerable ability at whatever he did.

Barkley wa...

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