1956, sports illustrated We surveyed players from the Little League World Series. The question was, “How ambitious are you?” And almost everyone answered, “I want to play baseball.” In other words, exactly what you would expect.
But that wasn’t the case for Robert Woolley of Colton, Calif. The 12-year-old pitcher knew where his ambitions lay: he wanted to be a dentist. Also a baseball player. But first, the dentist.
“A dentist,” said Woolley SI“My uncle is a dentist. He told me it’s a lot better for boys than playing baseball for money. I also want to play baseball.If I’m any good and if dentistry interferes with baseball, I’ll give up dentistry. [dentist turned pro golfer] So did Cary Middlekoff. he is a smart man ”
Even though Woolley admitted that ideally he would continue to be a ball player, his answer stood out. It’s a rare 12-year-old to lead in the most realistic version of his career plan when asked to describe his ambitions. He was the only player (or at least the only player to admit it in his SI record) who had a . But he also stood out in another way. He actually made his dream come true. The future of the major leagues didn’t wait for Michigan’s Ronald, New Jersey’s Fred and New Mexico’s Tom. But Bob from California? he did it He was a dentist for 50 years.
So: What’s it like to be the only kid who has to grow up and live a (reasonable, well-thought-out) dream?
“You know, if you say something when you’re 12, it might not come to fruition,” says Woolery, who called me at his home in California this week. “But I really thought I could do something with my hands and my brain at the same time.”
And he did.
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Even then, I found his answers a little strange for a 12-year-old. He didn’t know many other children who were interested in dentistry. But Woolley had a reason. His father was a machinist.As he said, his Uncle Chuck SI 1956, dentist. The two had an arrangement. When they visited each other, his father handled his uncle’s car, and his uncle took care of the family’s teeth. This arrangement brought a revelation to his young Woolery. He watched his father turn his uncle’s car on and off over his week. He watched his uncle clean the teeth of the whole family one afternoon and then go fishing. It was clear to Woolery. Yes, he looked up to his father, but he knew which job he wanted. Thus began his lifelong interest in dentistry.
Woolley never wavered. (Not even when his high school counselor told him he wasn’t fit to be a dentist.) And even after years of working toward the job he’d wanted since childhood, he still found it. met his expectations.
“Patients would come in and after years of experience, I could tell when they were in the worst pain,” says Woolery. “And being able to help those people when I could see all the pain disappear from their eyes was probably the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. I think it was one of those things.”
Woolery retired in 2018 after practicing for 50 years in California. He still misses his days as a dentist, and he misses his days as a little leaguer.
The details of that 1956 World Series still resonate with Woolery. He was so nervous before his first game that he remembers throwing up before he took the mound, and he felt a brand new glove, a special gift from his father. I remember. He also remembers how he only threw one ground ball and then realized that he had better put it back in the trusty old glove that got him there instead. The game went into extra innings and Woolley pitched all eight frames before Youth’s pitches were counted. He still remembers the name of the boy who hit a homer in the top of the eighth inning.
Woolley pitched eight innings in the team’s first game in the 1956 Little League World Series at Memorial Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Courtesy of Little League Baseball and Softball
Woolery’s team lost their next match and were sent home. But the memories of that summer are forever treasures. He returned to Williamsport with his wife in 2016 to mark his 60th anniversary of his World Series trip and even threw his first pitch at the game.
“For a 12-year-old, the experience was absolutely devastating,” says Woolery. “I was so proud to do it and now I get to see all the kids and see those spectators, that beautiful stadium.”
He still watches the Little League World Series from afar every summer. The kids on the field now are living the same dream he and his teammates had years ago. Of course, Woolery is living proof. Some dreams come true.
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