Editing Lyman Bostock (section)

==Early life==
Born in [[Birmingham, Alabama]], Bostock was the son of Annie Pearl Bostock and [[Lyman Bostock Sr.]] (1918–2005), a [[Negro leagues]] professional baseball star from 1938 to 1954 as a first baseman. Pearl and Bostock Sr. split when Bostock Jr. was a young child, with Pearl relocating with her son first to [[Gary, Indiana]], in 1954. In 1958, the two again relocated, this time to [[Los Angeles]]. The younger Bostock remained estranged from his father for the remainder of his life, feeling that his father had abandoned him.

At one point during his youth, Bostock's baseball glove was stolen. With his mother unable to afford to purchase another, he had to use a glove given to him by a friend of the family. However, the donated glove was for left-handed fielders. Bostock's discomfort in catching fly balls with the hand he was unaccustomed to using led him to begin making basket catches at that time. The habit stayed with him and he frequently made basket catches of fly balls for the remainder of {{nowrap|his life.}}
"When I was 8 years old, my mother bought me my first glove," Bostock had recalled. "But someone stole it the next day. My mother wasn't about to buy me another one. But a friend of hers at work gave her a replacement. Unfortunately, it was a left-hander's model and I'm right-handed. Since it was the only glove I had, I had to use it. It was the only way I could catch the ball. It became a habit, and I still have it."<ref name="sabr.org">{{Cite web|title=Lyman Bostock {{!}} Society for American Baseball Research|url=https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/9bb77e84|website=sabr.org|access-date=2020-05-07}}</ref>

Bostock played baseball at [[Manual Arts High School]] in Los Angeles, then attended San Fernando Valley State College (now [[California State University, Northridge]] (CSUN)). It was there that he met Yuovene Brooks, who would become his wife. Bostock did not play baseball during his first two years of college, choosing instead to become involved in student activism. Nonetheless, he was selected in the [[1970 Major League Baseball draft|1970 amateur draft]] by the [[1970 St. Louis Cardinals season|St. Louis Cardinals]].

"What you saw is what you got from Lyman," said Bob Hiegert, Bostock's college coach at Cal State Northridge. "There was nothing hidden about Lyman. He wore his heart on his sleeve."<ref name="latimes.com">{{Cite web|title=One athlete who didn't just talk about giving back|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-apr-22-sp-crowe22-story.html|date=2008-04-22|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|access-date=2020-05-07}}</ref>

Bostock chose not to sign, stayed in college, and began playing baseball for Coach Hiegert and the [[Cal State Northridge Matadors baseball|Matadors]]. He was an all-conference player in the [[California Collegiate Athletic Association]] in both of his seasons at San Fernando Valley, hitting .344 as a junior and .296 as a senior, leading the Matadors to a second-place finish at the [[NCAA Division II baseball tournament|Division II College World Series]] in 1972. He was selected by the [[1972 Minnesota Twins season|Twins]] in the 26th round (596th overall) of the [[1972 Major League Baseball draft|1972 amateur draft]] and decided to turn professional, just 15 credits short of finishing his bachelor's degree.