Five Random Whitney Stories

C. F. Stewart

In the last article we looked at Whitney's shaky time in the Air Force and the surrealistic events surrounding his 1959 victory over Donald Dell in the NCAA single final. (Click Here.) This month 5 random stories about Whitney as remembered by his friend Ken Sheffield.

Canadian Nationals

Whitney was in desperate need of a ride to Vancouver, for the Canadian Nationals and his friend Ken Sheffield had just taken a job selling Shick razors on the road.

Ken figured he could sell Shick razors in Canada as well as anywhere, and traveling with Whitney might not be the safest health plan, but was bound to be fun. They stocked up an ample supply of premium beer and head up Highway 101 for Vancouver.

The ride to Canada was somewhat of a blur. Somewhere along the way, Whitney called home to tell everyone that he was in transit to Canada, alive and well. Whitney's mom says great, thanks for calling, and Tom Brown can't play doubles.

Tom Brown and Whitney were the No. 1 - seeded doubles team. With Tom not playing, Whitney needed to find a new partner. He looked over at Ken.

They made it to Vancouver in one piece. First on the agenda was convincing the Canadian National tournament committee that Ken was qualified to play in their National tournament.

Whitney fabricated a resume for Sheffield. Ken was unbeaten in his last 20 hard court matches, but Whitney left out the fact that the hardcourt matches were played in Penngrove, California. Further, Ken was the number 1 player in his area, but he left out the fact that the area was Cotati, California.

This was decades before the Internet, so the organizing committee couldn't go on line and verify the real Ken Sheffield. Whitney was very popular in Canada and so Ken was in the tournament. Not only in the tournament, but Ken and Whitney were still the number 1 seeds.

But, besides his resume, there was another problem for Ken. He had never played on grass.Whitney told Ken that just needed to bend your knees a little more. He told Ken that the ball didn't bounce very high, and that made dinks pretty effective.

By this time, Ken was feeling that he should have stayed in San Francisco. He and Whitney had been in some tight spots, but never was he put in a situation were he could suffer some major humiliation. Participating in an international tennis event on a foreign surface with one of the best players in the world had humiliation written all over it.

Needless to say they didn't win the tournament. But two incidents occurred that are indelibly etched on Ken Sheffield's brain.

A first serve return in the first set was incident number 1. The ball skidded off the grass and Sheffield's racquet flew out of his hand. Incident number 2 caused Ken to consider therapy.

After chasing all those skidding low balls all over the court, he finally got his chance for a modicum of glory and self - respect. A short lob was set up perfectly.

Ken could see himself blasting the ball into the next province. For some unknown reason, as Ken was about to disintegrate the ball, Whitney flew out of nowhere, tackled Ken, and dropped the ball over the net just out of reach of their opponents.

Harry Hopman

According to Ken, Harry Hopman had John Newcombe, Tony Roche, and Roy Emerson in a training session. Hopman had the three of them running through a variety of tortuous drills.

Finally, after hours of running, hopping, and stopping on a dime, he had all three panting and begging for the showers. Hopman lined up all three men in the middle of the court, and told them that there was an American playing on court 5, and under no circumstances where they to watch this American play for even a minute.

As soon as Hopman was out of sight the three men made a beeline for Court 5. The next day, during a practice session featuring half - volleys, all three men twirled the racquet over their heads and took wild swings at the ball.

Harry Hopman stopped practiced and announced to everyone within a mile radius that some players had done something that they were told not to do. Punishment followed.

Big Hitters

Whitney loved to play players who thought that they were really big hitters. He loved to play those big Type A personalities.

It was Mill Valley in the middle 1970s, Whitney was seeded No. 2 and his quarterfinal match was against one of the quintessentially biggest hitters around.

The guy came out swinging from the floor. In the first game, the guy served and then volleyed the ball out. Instead of letting the ball bounce, Whitney returned the ball from the air from the doubles alley.

The guy winds up and let fly with a huge forehand that was also out, but instead of letting the ball bounce, Whitney returned the ball to the middle of the court. The guy let go of an inside out forehand that was again out, but Whitney refuses to take the point, and he returned the ball to the center of the court.

Finally, the guy was so frustrated that he caught the ball and says, "I won the point." Whitney laughed. The referee said, point Reed.

The big hitter looked as though he was about to explode. He lost the first game and never recovered. Whitney went on to win easily.

The Weirdest Score

Ken Sheffield told another story he called the weirdest score ever recorded: 0 - 6, 0 - 5, 40 love, retired.

Whitney was playing Conway Catton in Portola Valley. Dr. Catton was fast, and when he was on he could be tough to beat, but he was not in Whitney's class.

Obviously, something was the matter with Whitney - - too much of something the previous night. Whitney was going through the motions figuring he'd be back in Alameda soon for an evening of gin rummy and a beer or two.

Connie hit a lob that Whitney ran for, flipped the ball over his shoulder, and, as luck would have it, the ball barely cleared the net. Catton ran like the wind, stopped, twisted awkwardly, and broke his leg. Win for Reed.

3 on 3

One day Ken Sheffield, Whitney, and a bunch of guys were in the San Jose State gym shooting baskets. Someone said, let's choose sides, and play a game to 21 baskets. Sheffield, Whitney and another friend were on one side. Two San Jose State varsity players and another guy were on the other.

The varsity players stated that their time on the court would be very short. But amazingly, both teams traded baskets to 20 - all.

Whitney would move to the center of the key, and Sheffield and the other friend would cut right and left for lay ups or short jump shots. The varsity players would race around the court looking slightly amused and hitting jump shots at will.

At 20 - all, Sheffield lobbed the ball to Whitney. Whitney faked to both players. It should be noted Whitney hadn't taken a shot the whole game.

But Sheffield saw a huge gleam in Whitney's eye. Whitney grasped the ball in both hands, and from the free throw line, lobbed the ball over his head into the basket. Ken had been around Whitney long enough that he was not surprised that Whitney flipped the ball over his head or surprised that it went in.