Vito "Babe" Parilliis a former American football player, a quarterback for 18 seasons in the National Football League and Canada in the 1950s, and the American Football League for all ten seasons in the 1960s... (wikipedia)
We had great fans, but they were hard fans. They used to cheer when I got hurt. We did have to prove ourselves.
The New York Giants had been big in New England for years ? they were New England's team. Their games were televised in New England for some time before we came along. So starting a new team in Boston was not easy.
After the Red Sox won in 1967, people would flock in there to see anything. There was a mystique to the place that still exists.
I'd go out and get plenty of respect. But they would still call me Gino. He would go out and be called Babe. I was married and Gino was single, so that things interesting.