In the last year of his life, former Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino had to use a cane to get around. Thanks to a gift from one Wellesley couple, he got around in style.
Gary and Lynne Smith got the idea to give the popular former mayor a baseball bat cane during last year’s playoff run, when they saw a man with a baseball-bat-shaped cane in Detroit.
“When we saw this man with the cane at the game, we looked at each other and both said, ‘Menino!’” Lynne Smith said.
The replica Louisville slugger has Menino’s name engraved on it, along with the World Series titles won during his time as mayor.
Menino’s wife, Angela was seen with the cane on Thursday as she returned to their Hyde Park home after Menino’s passing. His wife told the couple he walked better with the cane than the one he had used before.
“His wife told us he hated his cane,” Gary Smith said. “He hated the fact that he had to use it and once he got this it changed his whole attitude about things.”
The couple said Menino took the cane with him to spring training in Fort Myers in March and got many of the players from the 2013 World Series winning team to sign it for him.