JOHNSTON COUNTY, NC (WTVD) — When Milton “Milt” Capps was born in 1919, sliced bread hadn’t been invented yet. Neither was the television. And the Boston Red Sox traded Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees, Capps’ favorite team. The Johnston County native, who now lives at Smithfield Manor & Nursing Rehab, skipped formal education for farm life at an early age.
The farming continued until the 1960s. Capps would plow fields in Johnston County while listening to the Yankees on the radio as early as the 1940s.
“I had to work in the daytime,” Capps said. “I listened to the radio at night. And when the TV came out, I got one of the first TVs around where I lived.”
The energy in Capps’ spirit is alive in well at the mention of Joe DiMaggio, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle. At 99 years old (and turning 100 in early June). Capps’ said his only regret is not attending a Yankees’ home game in the Bronx.
He said he remembers going to a couple of games in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. But never at the Yankees’ home in the Bronx. That alone prompted friends to start a GoFundMe for Capps to go to a game. “I’m much excited about going,” said Capps. “I’m hoping everything will turn out all right.”
Read more here.