Daily News from New York, New York • 169

There may be no other sports nut in New York quite like one Seymour (Cy) Block A-" V. i 5 V'V -timiiuM ii U' 4 'i A was shot. The one-time Cubs second baseman played only 17 games over four seasons during the 1940s, but saw and experienced enough in his nearly 14 years of pro ball for an album full of memories. He got his first major-league hit off legendary Johnny Vander Meer, batted .325 lifetime is his license plate), and he also happens to be that rarest of living human beings someone who played in a World Series for the Chicago Cubs. Although Block left professional baseball in 1951 for a successful career in insurance, he never left the world of sports.

Whether cheering the BY CHRIS PFAFF Boys High, Block persevered, paying his way to Joe Stripps baseball school in Florida with money earned at a mirror and brush factory. "My first teacher in baseball school was Joe Tinker of the old 'Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance' Chicago Cubs double-play combination," he recalls. "Even though I had his word that I had the stuff to make the big leagues, I had to go through a grueling tryout with 700 other kids. Finally, after the field was narrowed to 27, 1 was signed to my first big-league contract." It cost Block $40 to play in the 1945 World Series, the last time the Cubbies made the Fall Knicks from behind their bench or cheering the Mets from the box seats, Block is more than just a fan. While some Mets fanatics will flash their laminated baseball cards (souvenirs from their Mets "Fantasy Camp" trip), Cy Block will give you one of his own baseball cards, detailing his pro-ball career.

The Brooklyn-born Block grew up a few blocks from Ebbets Field and some of his earliest memories are of sneaking into Dodgers' games, once disguised as a girl scout. Although he didn't make the baseball team at his alma mater, New York quite like one Seymour (Cy) Block. "All I ever wanted was to play major-league baseball," admits the 73-year-old Block. In this regard, Block differs very little from the late-night callers to WFAN, the gusto-laden city softballers and a large percentage of American youth, except that he actually played in the majors. In fact, Block played three seasons for the Buffalo Bisons of the International League in the stadium where the Robert Redford film "The Natural" You may have noticed an exuberant, white-haired man at a recent ballgame in New York any ballgame.

The spring of '92 has been busy for him, since the Knicks, Rangers, Devils, Nets, Yankees and Mets all commanded his attention simultaneously. During the jock-lock season that blends the winter sports with the national pastime, few fans in this sports-crazed metropolis have the ability to enjoy as many games firsthand as this man. Then again, there may be no other sports nut in SEW YORK LIVE (J) JUNE 7, 1992.