Early Years
Lum was born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Japanese woman and American soldier, and was adopted as a baby by a Chinese couple, Mun Luke & Winnifred Lum. He became a star left-handed quarterback at President Theodore Roosevelt High School, winning the Interscholastic League of Honolulu’s Back of the Year award in 1962. He attracted interest from Michigan State University, and attended Brigham Young University on a football scholarship for one semester in the fall of 1963 after having signed with the Milwaukee Braves as an amateur free agent back in June.
A speedy runner, Lum was converted to an outfielder in the Braves' organization after having played first base in high school. He logged just a .925 fielding percentage his first professional season with the Waycross Braves Georgia-Florida League, but his defense steadily improved over his five seasons in the minors.
Read more about this topic: Mike Lum
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or years:
“All of Western tradition, from the late bloom of the British Empire right through the early doom of Vietnam, dictates that you do something spectacular and irreversible whenever you find yourself in or whenever you impose yourself upon a wholly unfamiliar situation belonging to somebody else. Frequently it’s your soul or your honor or your manhood, or democracy itself, at stake.”
—June Jordan (b. 1939)
“Thirty years now I have labored
To dredge the silt from your throat.
I am none the wiser.”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)