Marilyn and Baseball

M. Monroe & Angles outfielder Albie Pearson run onto the field at Chavez Ravine. June 1, 1962

It is no secret, my affection for Marilyn Monroe.  As young as 5th grade I started this affection.  I am not sure how or why it began, I only know it has not been a passing interest, but a lifelong passion.  Since I was a kid I have been collecting odds and ends of Marilyn items. The last house I lived in had a room dedicated to framed Marilyn images; Christmas ornaments, Marilyn Monroe wines, postage - I have it.

I am also very passionate about baseball.  This is a newer passion, I will admit.  I was always "that" girl - the one who was not interested in sports, and if I was it was usually basketball.  But that sport left a sour taste in my mouth, and we broke up.  Once we broke up, I started this beautiful relationship with baseball that has been frustrating, exciting, disappointing, exhilarating, and overall amazing.

Each day, I celebrate my Angels' 50th Anniversary with creating a collage of pictures based on events from that day, or the players who shaped the daily events.  While I love the sport, I am bad with remembering statistics, or events that happened that others may remember unless, of course, I saw them unravel before my eyes.  For me, it isn't about statistics, or who did what.  I agree, they are of great importance to the sport, but it isn't why I follow the teams I follow.  I follow them for the ability to enjoy watching a good game, feeling relaxed and enjoying a day with my family.  Each day I rummage through the Internet looking for images that are not only iconic, but also show current and former Angels players from all different time periods in an amazing light for their ability.  I have been able to learn more about this team, events that shaped an organization, and the men who helped shape it, from the Cowboy himself, Gene Autrey, all the way down to Mickey Mouse.

The image above is of Marilyn Monroe and Albie Pearson, an Angels player.  The image combines two of my loves.  The only thing missing would be my family.  In researching the image, though, I found some interesting information.  Not only is this image of Ms. Monroe, it is also an image of her last public appearance before she died in 1962. Strangely enough, this was also her 36th birthday.

"Albie Pearson, an outfielder with the Angels during their first six seasons, threw out a ceremonial first pitch. Pearson’s most memorable “photo op” had to be on June 1, 1962, when he and Marilyn Monroe stood at home plate together before an Angels-Yankees game to make a plea to fans for donations to the Muscular Dystrophy fund." (http://natpo.st/ifR1Cn)

Marilyn would be found at her home just a few months later, on August 5, 1962, dead, at the age of 36. Forty-nine years have passed since this moment; forty-nine years in which the world has changed so drastically it would be unrecognizable to her today.

She looks beautiful in her dress suite, her hat, heels.  Hair, perfectly coiffed, smiling from ear to ear.  The woman in this image looks happy, looks healthy, someone who has the world at her feet, just waiting to take it over. For all the conspiracy theories there are in the world, disputes about murder verses suicide, who she knew, and what she knew, the image says it all.  This is an moment of happiness caught within a lens, and shared for the world to see.  Albie looks happy to be escorting her as his head is tucked down, his joy not only captured but still felt today when you see his smile. What an amazing moment to still witness through the photograph.