During this era in baseball the players didn't make much money. Most baseball players had winter jobs to help make ends meet. Preacher spent his winters teaching math and coaching high school basketball. He was good with kids and the kids loved him. In 1946, while coaching a girls basketball game for Hardy, Arkansas, Preacher was knocked unconscious during an altercation with a referee. He lost his short term memory from this accident and most of his pitching skills had to be learned all over again.
Upon being pressed to sue the official for damages, Preacher responded, "I can't sue somebody for something I can't remember happening. How do I know why he hit me if I can't remember what I did?" Preacher's best seasons at Brooklyn were still to come.
