In my years at the Sands and my talks with Sinatra, Joe DiMaggio's name did come up a few times.

Sinatra usually brought up Joe D's. name discussing the great athletes of his time and especially when talking about the Italians that broke the barrier for everyone. Sinatra would sit around in the lounge or at dinner and talk of the great sport figures he knew or saw. Frank loved to talk about talented people.

Here is one story involving Sinatra and what he said to me about DiMaggio. Frank was in the lounge talking to a whole bunch of people, two tables worth. I came in to tell him something about the Casino and he told me to sit down. Notice, not ask, told me to sit and listen. He was telling a story about DiMaggio...

Frank: "How good was DiMaggio, listen, in the year Mantle come up to join the Yankees, I watched them work out. They're both in center field going for balls being hit to them. Long fly balls and they would both run and catch them. Well, I'm telling you, DiMaggio got there first, 9 out 10 times. That's right, the old man, getting ready to retire, got there first and beat the young kid everytime. How good was DiMaggio? Listen, and get this, at that time, Mantle was the fastest man in baseball."

Frank ends with " Did that guy know what he was doing or what?"

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Another person who stopped people in the casino was Arnold Palmer. He was in town on business, staying at the Desert Inn. He comes to the Sands for the first time. It's at night and we have a lot of action. He comes by the 21 Pit which is the first Pit you see on the way in. He just wants some directions. At the time, he's the biggest name in golf. As I'm talking to him, he wants to use a phone. I invite him into the Pit to use the desk phone. While on the phone, players see him and start coming over to him. He's now off the phone and is talking to them. The Dealers who almost all play golf, now know he is in the Pit. Almost all the 21 players are leaving the games and coming over to him. Now the dealers have stopped dealing and are looking around at him. (A serious no-no.)

In about 10 minutes I've got no players and no action in the 21 Pit and this could spread to the Craps Pit.

I get Arnold out fast. Get him a ride to the airport. He will be flying his plane back home.

About an hour later the telephone operator calls me and says there is a call from an airplane which will be patched in to the Pit. This was unheard of in those days. Arnold was on the line. He's calling just to make I would get him into see Sinatra, when he returned, as I had promised.

As I type this, I'm looking at a picture of a younger Arnold and myself taken at the Desert Inn Tournament of Champions.

Years later, when we had the Howard Hughes Sands Golf Invitational, Arnold was the host.

I thought it would be interesting to you to hear that Arnold Palmer, the biggest name in Golf, who could go to any hotel and get to see anybody he wanted, only wanted one thing. He wanted to make sure he got to see Frank Sinatra perform. He eventually did and loved it.