In 1956, Sports Illustrated surveyed players at the Little League World Series. The question was, “What is the height of your ambition?” And the answer, for almost everyone, was, “I want to play baseball.” In other words: Exactly what one might expect.
But not for Robert Woolery of Colton, Calif. The 12-year-old pitcher knew just where his ambitions lay: He wanted to be a dentist. Well, sure, a ballplayer, too. But a dentist first.
“A dentist,” Woolery told SI. “My uncle is a dentist. He tells me that’s much better for a boy than to play baseball for money. So I told him O.K. But most of all I want to play baseball. If I am any good and if dentistry interferes with baseball, I’ll give up dentistry like [dentist turned pro golfer] Cary Middlecoff did. There’s a smart guy.”
