[Big Six]

56 Claremont Park
Boston, Massachusetts

Miss Eleanor Flaherty
303 East University Street
Wooster, Ohio

October 3, 1940

Dearest Ellie,

I wanted to write you sooner to let you know how sorry I was for being so short with you on the telephone the other night, when you called to console me after we lost the pennant. I was sullen and moody, I took my mood out on you, and you in no way deserved that.

You're right; there are so many positive things about this past season, and I should think about them more often than I do. Right now, it's very difficult for me to look past the fact that we lost the pennant to the Yankees. Deep inside, I know that I can't win every game I pitch, and I suppose I should take more satisfaction in my record than I do. I can't help thinking that if I'd won a couple more games in September, we'd be playing in the World Series, and not the Yankees.

Thank you for your efforts to help me stop being so critical of myself. It will be a difficult lesson for me to learn, and I'm very lucky that you're so patient. Your patience with me has been remarkable, Ellie, and I hope you know now how much I've always appreciated it.

I've decided what I'm going to do if my grandmother's illness grows worse. I'll be moving back to Stockbridge to help take care of her and my grandfather, at least during the off-season. I always loved visiting their house when I was growing up, and now it looks like I'll be living there.

Of course that means I won't be playing football again this season. While there are some things about football that I miss very much, my "gut" tells me that I've made the right decision. I had so much more success as a pitcher this year than I ever had, and I felt much stronger at the end of the season. I have the satisfaction of knowing I did everything I could to make myself into a better baseball player, and that I did all I could to help the Red Sox win.

I enjoyed my day with the Flippen family very much, and I wish you and your family could have come out to Boston to be there. Clarence had the opportunity to play catch with us before the game, and he has quite an arm! He wanted to throw a couple of pitches to a real major league catcher, so Josh Gibson put on the mask and pads and grabbed his mitt so Clarence could pitch to him. Josh later said that the kid popped his mitt pretty good!

On that more positive note, I'll close my letter. I hope you'll write to me again soon, even though we're talking on the telephone much more often now. I can't save a telephone conversation, after all.

Affectionately, always,
Mike