Dogwoods & Ball Games

For the first time since Douglas MacArthur left Japan, there were no speeches to prepare, questions to answer, jostling crowds, wearying parades, or popping flashbulbs. His time was his own. Most of it he spent in his well-guarded, ten-room suite high up in the Waldorf Towers--resting, seeing friends, answering mail, declining invitations.

On one fine spring day, the general bundled himself and his wife into a car, drove out to Connecticut to see the dogwoods in bloom, pay what was described as a social call on Remington Rand President James H. Rand, who had offered him a job, reportedly at $100,000 a year. The papers were full of reports that MacArthur had also been house hunting on Connecticut's Contentment Island, but a MacArthur aide denied the stories.

At week's end, having called in a tailor for some fast work, MacArthur put on civilian clothes publicly for the first time in years, turned up at the Polo Grounds in a snappy double-breasted grey suit and a light grey homburg, looking younger and more erect than he did in his well-worn uniform. The P.A. system boomed out a recorded 17-gun salute as the MacArthurs were escorted to a flag-draped box. "We are going to ... watch the long hits, mark the errors and razz the umpire, even if we know he is right," announced the general, and heaved out the first ball. Despite the MacArthurs' encouraging presence, the Giants lost, 6-5. The band played Old Soldiers Never Die.

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