I had spent years doing all of the research on Mr. Stratton I could find. I knew that he lived and died in Texas. I discovered that after losing his leg, he went back to coach for the White Sox, and that he had actually pitched for a while for a minor league team. Outside of that, I knew nothing.
Then, one day, I "hit gold." I found Mr. Stratton's son, and about three years ago, I called him one day on my way to work, and surprised him completely. I identified myself as someone that had always followed his dad, and that he had always been an inspiration to me. To this day, I wish that I had been able to write down/tape what he had told me, but, since I was driving, I was unable to really record much.
Here is what I found out. One main difference in his life, and in the movie, was that Mr. Stratton had tripped his revolver in his pants had went off, rather than his rifle that had been shown in the movie. However, the wound was still the same, and his leg did have to be amputated.
Mr. Stratton did not have a depression period as in the movie, but, almost immediately, "pulled himself up by his bootstraps," and started to make a life for him. This fact made me indeared to him even further, because the traces of "The Greatest American Generation" came out, and were showed, yet again.
Mr. Stratton, after being a lifetime smoker, was told in 1979 that the smoking was killing him, and that he had six months to live as a result. Mr. Stratton put the cigarettes down that day, and lived for three more years.
Apparently, he was very generous, becuase I found an article not too long ago that said that he and Mrs. Stratton had donated land to a local charity.
In the game that was protrayed in The Stratton Story, he was actually much better. On his return game, after being away for a period of time, he pitched a complete shut-out, and if memory serves me correctly, only game up one run.
This fine man serves as an inspiration for us all today. May we look at him, and learn, that despite all that goes against us, we can "rise up," and succeed.
According to my father, Mr. Stratton and my grandfather were good friends. Mr. Stratton what often come to my grandparents home and visit. In Greenville, Texas, Mr. Stratton played in Majors field. My granddaddy played with him.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this wonderful article! My dad and I love Monty and are very appreciative of anything we find of him. It was such a pleasant surprise to find out that he had relatively no depressive period after his leg was taken from him. What an absolute inspiration!! Really wish they hadn’t changed that in the movie and can’t help but wonder why they would do that... and why they would show his games to be lesser than they actually were, for that matter. Things like that really disappoint. When there are miracles and inspirations in this world, they should be shown in their full glory. (sigh) Many thanks for setting the record straight. Now, if only we could go back in time and edit that lovely movie just a tad bit….
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