December 22, 1916 - April 1, 2009

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These are the words that we all knew were coming some day, and no one wanted to hear:  “Junie has passed away”.

Today those words are being told by one teammate to another, one parishioner to another, one friend to another, one Old Timer to another.  Though we may have been expecting those words were coming sooner than later does not make it any easier to hear them. 

It will take a while for them to sink in.

Our “Mr. Baseball” had so many memories deep within that it was always a real joy to hear him tell about them.  His love for his fellow man was evident in the way he smiled and the way he laughed.  His eyes brightened when he saw you and continued to shine through the length of time it took him to share his stories and special memories.

I swear his eyes twinkled all the time. 

Junie could tell wonderful stories.  I’ve heard him talk about Nashville Vols manager Larry Gilbert trusting his baseball expertise so much that together they would scout local talent in Nashville’s sandlots.  He was proud of having been able to warm up Hall of Famer Honus Wagner in the 20s when Pittsburgh came to town for an exhibition game heading north after spring training.

He joked and laughed about sneaking into Sulphur Dell through an ice chute as a youngster long before the ball park was turned around in the opposite direction following the 1926 season. He not only spoke of seeing games at Sulphur Dell and Greer Stadium, he hoped to live to see a new downtown Nashville ball park.

He shared stories about his brother-in-law and former major league player George Archie and his friendship with Jim Turner.

He talked about local umpire “Treetop” Hill and how he would give the arbiter a ride to ball games.  He told of players on teams he managed and played on. His ability to relate game events often included the date, the score and sometimes the ball-strike count.

Junie regularly attended our Old Timers board meetings, and actively participated in each one.  He was especially proud of being the only person to have attended each and every annual Old Timers banquet.  All 71 of them.  There will be an empty seat at the next one.

And even though we may have known him only in our small baseball world, his world was so much larger.  He was a sweet, giving, loving man of heavenly qualities.  What better blessing among us could there possibly be, than to have been touched by such a man as Julian “Junie” McBride?

-Skip Nipper, April 1, 2009