Childhood hero, cherished friend

Growing up in Casper, Wyo., in the '50s, Paul Rogers was a Phillies fan. Maybe it was because of his Pennsylvania grandfather. Maybe it was the red pinstripes. Whatever it was, it wasn't because the Phillies were good, because the brief, bracing era of the Whiz Kids had already come and gone.

But Robin Roberts remained, stalwart and indefatigable. Six years in a row, he won at least 20 games for Philadelphia. A seven-time All-Star, he completed more than half of his 609 starts.

Roberts threw high, hard and often, subsequently earning himself a pass into the Hall of Fame and a young Wyoming boy's imagination.

Rogers grew up to become a lawyer and dean of SMU's law school as well as president of the local SABR chapter. Any Dallas lawyer who likes baseball eventually meets Talmage Boston. At a luncheon before an old-timer's game in 1992, they ran into Roberts waiting on an elevator.

"Mr. Roberts, Paul Rogers is here, and you're his boyhood hero," Boston said.

"Do you have 10 or 15 minutes for a Coke?"

As it turns out, Roberts had a tee time. But he told them to come back the next morning. Over breakfast, a dream evolved into a partnership.

Like Boston, who would author a book on baseball's 1939 season, Rogers wanted to write. He just needed a subject. Not long after their first meeting, he called Roberts to propose a book on the Phillies. And to Rogers' surprise, Roberts agreed.

"I felt like the dog who chases the car and finally catches it," Rogers said.

"What do I do now?"

Over the next couple of years, he worked with his subject in Dallas and at Roberts' home in Temple Terrace, Fla. He accompanied Roberts on the road to interview old teammates. In Atlantic City, Rogers was checking into a hotel when Roberts stopped him.

"No, no," he said. "You're staying with me."

Eventually, Rogers and Roberts would write two books, The Whiz Kids and the 1950 Pennant and My Life in Baseball . Through Roberts, Rogers met the Whiz Kids as well as Duke Snider and George Kell.

The co-authors grew close. Roberts watched O.J. Simpson's ride in a white Bronco from Roberts' living room. The old fireballer even sat in on one of Roberts' law classes.

His take: "I think I could pass."

Meeting your idol is a dangerous proposition. Often they're not what you imagined or hoped. At risk is the loss of something precious.

Paul Rogers found Robin Roberts, who died recently at 83, to be bright, engaging, curious, argumentative, a sports nut, devoted family man and friend. And there was an added bonus.

"I got to be a roommate," he said, "with my hero."