Lights Out

There was the one Sam told about the secret light in Cominsky Park. A Sox bullpen/bench coach named Del Wilbur was a world class sign stealer.  He took his home doorbell, ran an electric wire from it to one light up under the façade in the left field stands, and for several years he---using binoculars from a little room behind the scoreboard----would “procure” the visiting catcher’s signs. When Sox hitters came to the plate and looked to left field, Wilbur would hit the magic button. If that one light was on it was a fastball; if it was off it was a breaking pitch. Sherm Lollar loved the light Sam said, “He’d be looking up there when the pitcher was still in his windup.” Nellie Fox, a great singles hitter, wouldn’t use it. “He was afraid he’d muscle up and just hit a warning track fly ball,” Sam said. “Finally, a Sox pitcher got traded, told the story, the league got involved, and our light went out! But while it was on, it was a real plus for those of us there on Bob Lemmon’s bench. I loved the light.”