Canzano: A visit to the old ballpark
Storytime from the "Garlic Capital of the World."
GILROY, Calif. — The Starbucks I’m sitting in didn’t exist when I was a kid. It was a field with tall grass. There was one of those old video arcades a block away. I used to ride my bicycle from my parents’ house, a 12-year-old pedaling a mile with sagging pockets filled with quarters.
I’d race against myself, checking my watch.
Then, I’d leave my bicycle outside the arcade, unlocked, while I emptied my pockets into Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Galaga, and Pole Position. It was a simple time, even if I didn’t know it.
People like to say they grow garlic in Gilroy. But this agricultural town grew me, too. Years ago, I was interviewing boxer Mike Tyson, and he mentioned the next town over.
Tyson is into pigeons. Birmingham Rollers, in particular. The birds roll backward in flight. San Martín has some of the best breeders of ‘rollers’ in the world, Tyson said.
I told the boxer I was from Gilroy.
He was stunned.
“Look at you,” he said. “Johnny, from the ‘Garlic Capital of the World.’”