By Mark Soltau April 22, 2013, 6:26 pm
During a recent visit to the Stanford campus, Jay McKie, ’46, marveled at how much it has changed. He was especially impressed with Klein Field at Sunken Diamond, where he anchored third base as a freshman in the spring of 1943.
“It was always a beautiful park,” he said. “When I played, we didn’t have a left field fence. The ball kept going.”
The 88-year-old McKie and his daughter Betsy received a surprise visit from Mark Marquess, the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball.
“To be joined by Mark Marquess was very moving,” said McKie. “He spent a long time with us. I know he had a bus to catch for a trip to play USC. They almost swept the series.”
McKie was one of five student-athletes who played freshman football together the previous fall, then started for the Stanford baseball team. Another was shortstop Bobby Brown, ’46, who later played for the New York Yankees and became president of the American League.
McKie’s other pals included Dick Madigan, ’46, MBA ’49, Don Bechter, ’46, and Lloyd Merriman, ’46. Madigan later became an assistant coach for the Stanford freshman football team and worked for Chuck Taylor, while Merriman played six seasons in Major League Baseball with the Cincinnati Reds, Chicago White Sox, and Chicago Cubs.
“It was a great group of guys,” said McKie, who was so moved and inspired by their friendships that several years ago he began making sizable contributions to the Buck/Cardinal Club in their names.
McKie only played once at Stanford Stadium—against St. Mary’s. The rest of the games were contested on the present Dan Elliott Practice Field.
“That was my only touch,” said the sharp and perpetually smiling McKie, a smooth-throwing backup quarterback.
During lunch at Jimmy V’s Sports Cafe, McKie was introduced to former Cardinal All-Americans Andrew Luck, ’12, and Jonathan Martin, ’12, now playing in the NFL. Needless to say, McKie was taken aback by Martin’s 6-foot-5, 312-pound frame.
“I was absolutely thrilled to be in the same photo with Andrew and Jonathan,” McKie said.
He also got a quick tour of the new Stanford Stadium, and enjoyed looking at the murals inside the players’ tunnel and the skybox.
“We didn’t have a stadium like that,” said McKie. “It was magnificent.”
McKie grew up in Southern California and his father was a big USC fan. Two of McKie’s three daughters graduated from the school. But McKie had his own plans and attended Stanford for one year. He had a partial scholarship, but also worked to support himself.
“It’s really interesting,” he said. “I did what we call ‘hashing,’ in the freshman dining room, to make ends meet. Even though I didn’t have a car, I worked in a freight yard in San Francisco on alternate weekends. I had to find lodging, so I sought out a chaplain—I was already mowing his lawn. He had a little cabin in his yard and I moved in there.”
“I would send home my laundry and they would rocket it back. I made the whole thing (year) gratis. I was pretty industrious.”
McKie also joined the Zeta Psi Fraternity and enjoyed everything about his Stanford experience.
“In retrospect, I had a sense of belonging right off the wheel,” said McKie, who splits time between Dallas and Norfolk, Virginia. “Everything about Stanford, I wanted to do. Then I let it go because of the Naval Academy.”
According to McKie, it was pre-determined that he would transfer to Annapolis after one year.
“I needed to get a little bit of education before I went to the Naval Academy,” he said.
McKie played football and baseball, excelling in the latter. One of his teammates in football was James Stockdale, who later became one of the most highly-decorated officers in the history of the U.S. Navy. Interestingly enough, after his release, the Navy sent Stockdale to Stanford, where he earned his master’s degree.
During his post-war time at the Naval Academy, McKie was assigned duty on an aircraft carrier and toured Asia. He became fascinated by submarines and later worked on one.
McKie met his wife, Virginia, during his time at the Naval Academy and they were married for 58 years. He developed many dual friendships from Stanford and the Naval Academy.
“It’s just remarkable,” he said.
After graduating from Annapolis, McKie and his wife settled in Massachusetts and he worked in the tech industry. His company was bought out by Texas Instruments, and the couple relocated to Dallas.
An ardent supporter of Stanford Athletics, McKie follows the football, basketball, and baseball teams from afar and takes great pride in what the coaches and student-athletes have accomplished. He only wishes he could have stayed longer on the Farm.
“That’s just how it worked out,” said McKie. “I would have loved for it to go on.”