I wrote a story last week about my great uncle, a B-17 pilot who tragically died during WW2. B-17 pilots are the main characters in the latest Tom Hanks/Steven Spielberg WW2 miniseries titled “Masters of the Air.” The miniseries is a companion piece to “Band of Brothers” and “The Pacific.” The story of my great uncle can be read in the comments.
What a wrote last week was a play on words on the name “Austin.” “Masters of the Air” stars “Austin” Butler. My great uncle was named “Austin” Parrish. I jokingly noted last week that there would, however, be no “Austin” College tie. Hell, I should know better than that by now.
Episode 4 of “Masters of the Air” uses baseball as an analogy to tell the story of the goal of each B-17 pilot: the completion of 25 missions. 25 missions, and you survive the war. 25 missions, and you get to go home. For a B-17 pilot, 25 missions is perfection.
B-17 pilot Glenn Dye completes 25 missions in Episode 4, and Major John Egan (played by Callum Turner of “The Boys in the Boat”) throws a party to celebrate his accomplishment and luck. As Dye arrives, Egan announces his entrance with the help of an Austin College Kangaroo:
“There’s our very own Charlie Robertson!”
“Charlie? Who’s Charlie?”
“1922. White Sox at Tigers. No runs, no hits, no errors.”
“Yeah, he’s the last guy to throw a perfect game.”
“Till now.”
Charlie Robertson (AC Class of 1918) was a pitcher for Kangaroo baseball. As a Chicago White Sox rookie in 1922, he threw a perfect game against Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers. Only 24 perfect games have been thrown in the history of baseball; because of the hitting prowess of Detroit, Robertson’s effort is arguably the most perfect.
By the end of Dye’s last mission in 1943, over two decades had passed since Robertson’s gem. Many Americans at that time believed that a perfect game would never occur again. Most agreed that the odds of a perfect game were low, like the odds of a B-17 pilot surviving 25 missions against Nazi flak.
I took my Roo Tale of Charlie Robertson, wrote additional chapters (including one about Robertson family members Martha Wright & John Robert Wright), and turned the story into a book. The book, “The Most Perfect Game Ever Pitched,” would make for fine viewing. Kind of like “Masters of the Air.”
And so, it turns out there is even more “Austin” in “Masters of the Air” than I anticipated. Sure, there’s Austin Butler portraying pilots like my great uncle Austin Parrish. But there’s also Charlie Robertson, an Austin College Kangaroo who is the subject of a book written by me, an Austin College Kangaroo.
AC Sports Information Director (SID) Jeff Kelly was thrilled to learn of Kangaroo Charlie Robertson’s perfect game from me. Jeff has also written about “Masters of the Air,” saying “I’m shocked they finally got around to making [the miniseries] since it feels like they’ve been talking about it for close to 20 years.” Well Jeff, in Episode 4 you get two for the price of one.
At the end of Episode 4, Major John Egan gets the news that many of his fellow B-17 pilots have failed to return from a run over Nazi Germany. Egan learns of the tragedy from a pilot speaking in code using the language of baseball. Distraught, Egan asks that his leave end so he can return to base and resume his missions. His request is in baseball code: “I want to pitch.”
