They hired him to be a radio announcer . For 34 years he was the voice of the Cleveland Indians . It was a crisp voice . The East Coast flat vowels were music to midwestern ears . He was understated . He never talked about himself on the air . Never did he relate the event of the moment on the field to anything analogous in his own career . Listeners could intuit his character and hope that , through their regular exposure to it , some of it would rub off on them . Sportswriter Joe Posnanski , a Cleveland native who grew up listening to Score , wrote on the occasion of his death in November 2008 that “ at the end of the day you are really raised by your hometown baseball announcer .”
Even off the air , Score didn ’ t talk about himself much , and so people were slow to appreciate the depth of his faith . Family and friends invariably describe it as quiet but invincible . He was indebted to Saint Jude and that was that . “ Loyalty was everything to him ,” Dave explains . “ Faith for him was black or white ” is how Helen characterizes it . He preached constantly but used words only when necessary , which in his view was not often .
So all those years earlier , exactly one month shy of his 24th birthday , as Score lay there wondering whether he was dying in the center of a baseball diamond on the shores of Lake Erie , he already had a history , as well as a middle name , that recommended him to the patron saint of desperate causes . The young man had grown spiritually precocious under the pressure of a series of physical adversities . Here was another . By now he had long understood Saint Jude to be a constant presence in his life . Not “ Come to my aid ,” he said , but “ Stay with me .”
“ My mom has told me this ,” Dave says . “ My dad never really brought this up . When he was lying there on the mound after being hit by the line drive , he made a pact with Saint Jude : ‘ If I don ’ t lose my sight , I ’ ll name my first child after you .’”
Jude and Herb each honored his own end of the bargain . Score regained the sight in his right eye . His vision returned to 20 / 20 . He and Nancy McNamara , whom he had known since high school , were engaged to be married after the season was over . Now that it was , at least for Herb , they moved their wedding up to July . Father Kelly flew down to say the Mass and perform the ceremony in Florida .
“ By now he had long understood Saint Jude to be a constant presence in his life . Not ‘ Come to my aid ,’ he said , but ‘ Stay with me .’”
In time , Nancy Score gave birth to their first child . The date was October 28 , the feast of Saint Jude . It was a girl . Father Kelly baptized her , as he would all their four children . They named her Judith .
ST . JUDE MESSENGER • VOLUME IV , ISSUE I 15