Johnny Callison

Johnny Callison lit another cigarette. Somewhere, the surgeon who carved away half his stomach winced. Somewhere, the cardiologist who performed the triple bypass groaned. Callison grinned a crooked, little smile and took another deep drag. If he was going to talk about 1964, he needed to look back through the gauzy haze of cigarette smoke. He is 50, a bartender at Tomato's in Doylestown. Strangers are always asking him what happened in '64 when the Phillies blew a 6 1/2-game lead with 12 to play.

He was a young, power-hitting Phillies outfielder with matinee good looks. A player who seemed on the verge of stardom. A player whose hitting stroke, suddenly and without warning, all but disappeared. Pat Burrell? Well, the description fits. But decades before Burrell's well-chronicled struggles, Phillies rightfielder Johnny Callison went through a similar scenario. In 1964, at the age of 25, Callison hit 31 homers, tying him for third in the National League, and knocked in 104 runs.

He slammed one of the most dramatic home runs ever hit by a Phillie, to win the 1964 All-Star Game in the ninth inning. Millions were watching on national television. He is the only Phillie to be named most valuable player of an All-Star Game. Yet the three-run homer Johnny Callison hit off Dick "The Monster" Radatz to give the National League a 7-4 victory at Shea Stadium 32 years ago isn't the first thing Callison recalls when his memory drifts back to 1964. "When I think of '64," the former rightfielder said at his home in Glenside last week, "I think of the pain first and what we did at the end. " You know about the end. The '64 Phillies - an overachieving team whose nucleus included several survivors of an infamous 23-game losing streak in 1961 - held a hard-to-believe 6 1/2-game lead with 12 games remaining.

1. b. Comiskey Park, Chicago. 2. a. 1943, in Shibe Park. 3. c. 1996, in Veterans Stadium. 4. d. Johnny Callison, in 1964. 5. b. Jimmy Rollins, in 2001. 6. c. Richie Ashburn. 7. c. Pete Rose, in 1985, playing for the Cincinnati Reds, was 44 years, 3 months, and 2 days old. 8. d. Bobby Abreu. 9. a. Charlie Manuel, in 2009 and '10. 10. Mack, 1933; Sawyer, '51; Mauch, '65; Green, '81; Owens, '84; Fregosi, '94; Manuel, 2009 and '10.

I'M A LONGTIME Eagles fan who reads the Daily News online from an Internet cafe in Mafraq, Jordan. I've been a Peace Corps volunteer here since July 2005 and have religiously followed the Eagles, watching the live updates online for all 1 p.m. games and having my friends call me at halftime and the end of the game for updates for the later games (1 a.m. and 3 a.m. my time for 4 p.m. games). I'm working in a youth center in, and one of my activities is teaching football to the kids here.

The widow of Johnny Callison is trying to arrange a public memorial service for the former Phillies star. A private memorial service was held Tuesday, but Dianne Callison said she has received so many requests that she also wants to have a public service. "So many people loved him," she said yesterday, "and we want to do something. " Dianne Callison said that a public memorial service is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 28 and that she is working out details on where to have it. She has contacted the Phillies for their input.

This evening, for reasons I'll explain later, I've been invited to dust off the cobwebs on the old A-2000 and play in the Equitable Old-timers Game at the Vet. I'll be joining such all-time Phillies greats as Richie Ashburn, Granny Hamner and Robin Roberts. We'll be playing against the likes of Willie Mays, Bob Gibson and Eddie Mathews. But unlike those big-name bombers, for me, this game will most likely be the highlight of my baseball career. The last time I was in Philadelphia was 1968.

It was the dawning of the Age of Aquarius - the year 1964. It was the beginnings of the forces that fueled what would come to be called the American Apocalypse: Be-ins, sit-ins, love-ins. Black power, feminist power, flower power. Demonstrations, remonstrations, protestations. Even as the social, cultural and political landscapes would change consequentially in the decade ahead so would the game of baseball with Astroturf, antiseptic stadia, free agency and a more-business-than-sport posture.

Twenty-five years ago today, rightfielder Johnny Callison of the Phillies, using a borrowed bat, stepped to the plate in the All-Star Game. Two on. Two out. Bottom of the ninth. Score knotted at 4-4. Millions watching on national television. It would be an at-bat that would help convert the disbelievers, convincing them that the 1964 Phillies - whose nucleus was composed of players who put together an infamous 23-game losing streak in 1961 - were legitimate contenders. At the all-star break, the Phillies, surprisingly, found themselves atop the National League standings with a 47-28 record.

1. b. Comiskey Park, Chicago. 2. a. 1943, in Shibe Park. 3. c. 1996, in Veterans Stadium. 4. d. Johnny Callison, in 1964. 5. b. Jimmy Rollins, in 2001. 6. c. Richie Ashburn. 7. c. Pete Rose, in 1985, playing for the Cincinnati Reds, was 44 years, 3 months, and 2 days old. 8. d. Bobby Abreu. 9. a. Charlie Manuel, in 2009 and '10. 10. Mack, 1933; Sawyer, '51; Mauch, '65; Green, '81; Owens, '84; Fregosi, '94; Manuel, 2009 and '10.

THE CAROUSEL ridden by major league baseball's 30 teams has something in common with the planet we all ride upon. Earth makes one full revolution around the sun in what we call a year. MLB's merry-go-round makes one full revolution in what we call a season. After trading a kid righthander named Ferguson Jenkins and a couple of bench players to the Cubs for established righthanders Larry Jackson and Bob Buhl, Phillies general manager John Quinn said this: "The golden ring only comes around once a year and when you've got a chance to grab it, you've got to do anything it takes because you may never be that close again.

WHATEVER YOU think about the hated New York Yankees, you can thank them for one of the most fortunate transactions in Philadelphia baseball history. And, no, I'm not talking about taking Bobby Abreu off our hands. In 1955 - 5 years after the Bronx Bombers swept the Phils in their only other World Series matchup - the Yankees sold us their giant scoreboard. That's right, the Ballantine Beer scoreboard - the famous 50-foot-tall behemoth that towered in right-centerfield at Connie Mack Stadium at 21st & Lehigh.

WHATEVER YOU think about the hated New York Yankees, you can thank them for one of the most fortunate transactions in Philadelphia baseball history. And, no, I'm not talking about taking Bobby Abreu off our hands. In 1955 - 5 years after the Bronx Bombers swept the Phils in their only other World Series matchup - the Yankees sold us their giant scoreboard. That's right, the Ballantine Beer scoreboard - the famous 50-foot-tall behemoth that towered in right-centerfield at Connie Mack Stadium at 21st & Lehigh.

ST. LOUIS - What a story it would have been, 45 years after Johnny Callison won the All-Star Game at New York's Shea Stadium with a walkoff homer, securing a spot in Phillies lore forever. There was Ryan Howard, returning to Busch Stadium, a hometown hero back to play in the All-Star Game. There was Howard, striding to the plate as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the eighth inning with two outs and two on and the National League down by a single run. There he was with a chance to create a moment that would be remembered for a long, long time.

RE THE death of Johnny Callison: I've been quite taken aback by how many people not only remember Callison after all these years, but how many considered him their hero. I, too, count myself in that number. There was always something true and consistent about him. Unlike so many ballplayers today, he never purposely drew attention to himself, yet his clutch hitting often put the limelight on him whether he wanted it or not. I'll never forget listening to my radio in 1964 as he hit that all-star home run. I was on top of the world because it was my hero who had won the game.

Those close to Johnny Callison remember the Phillies legend as soft-spoken and reserved. Callison's only great-grandchild, on the other hand, is not. As Dallas Green stood at a podium last night, recalling treasured moments he had shared with his former Phillies teammate, little Shane Mattox let out a squeal from his stroller. And Green responded, "Hey, let Johnny know you're around. " Close to 400 fans, friends and family members were around last night in the Diamond Club at Citizens Bank Park as the Phillies hosted a public tribute in memory of Callison, who died Oct. 12 after a long illness.

The widow of Johnny Callison is trying to arrange a public memorial service for the former Phillies star. A private memorial service was held Tuesday, but Dianne Callison said she has received so many requests that she also wants to have a public service. "So many people loved him," she said yesterday, "and we want to do something. " Dianne Callison said that a public memorial service is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 28 and that she is working out details on where to have it. She has contacted the Phillies for their input.

I'M A LONGTIME Eagles fan who reads the Daily News online from an Internet cafe in Mafraq, Jordan. I've been a Peace Corps volunteer here since July 2005 and have religiously followed the Eagles, watching the live updates online for all 1 p.m. games and having my friends call me at halftime and the end of the game for updates for the later games (1 a.m. and 3 a.m. my time for 4 p.m. games). I'm working in a youth center in, and one of my activities is teaching football to the kids here.

Johnny Callison, 67, the former Phillies rightfielder with the rifle arm, powerful bat, and Hollywood-handsome looks, died Thursday night at Abington Memorial Hospital after a long illness. He lived in Glenside, Montgomery County. Dianne Callison said her husband died of heart-related problems, which he had been battling for several years. Cancer of the mouth was diagnosed 1 1/2 years ago, and he underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments, she said. He went into the hospital a week ago because of pneumonia.