What's the one ballpark memory that stands out in your mind?
lawnmowerman
Posts: 19,477 ✭✭✭✭
When I was a kid, we always would go to Al Lang stadium for spring training games. Sometimes, my mom would come to school and take us out of class for "family emergencies" so we could catch a game 
The Mets and Cardinals used to share Al Lang every spring and my team of course was the Mets. It was such fun going and getting autos. We would bend our cards in half long ways and stick them through the chain link fence so the players could sign them..lol Or we would toss our gloves over the fence (it was really high) have a bunch of players sign it, then they would toss it back.
I had a bunch of guys on my glove. George Foster, Keith Hernandez, Jesse Orosco, Mookie Wilson and more I can't remember. I ended up wearing all the names off over time because I never quit using my glove
Anyway, the one memory that really stands out was during the spring of '83. We always sat in the bleachers. Cheap seats and we had access to the players. Wally Backman hit a high foul ball and it was mine the second it left his bat. I ran down the bleachers, hit the ground and stood wear I thought the ball was gonna land. Sure enough, it landed not even a foot from me. Problem was, it was on the other side of a chain link fence that separated the bleachers from the outside of the complex.
There was this one "old" guy probably 25 at the time..lol that would never pay to get into the park. Instead, he hung out waiting for foul balls or home runs to land outside the complex. This guy used to get alot of balls, all the time. He would even jump in the bay after the ones that bounced on the road and into the water. This guy was nuts.
So there I am, I cant get the ball because the fence is tight to the ground and it won't pull up. I planned on running outside to get the ball but I see crazy dude coming! I stick both of my hands through the fence, grab the ball but it's obviously too large to fit through the fence hole. So along comes wacko, looks me dead in the eyes, smiles and pulls the ball right from my hands. I didn't cry but I sure was close to tears. The bleachers go crazy, yelling at the dude and saying stuff like "give the kid the ball" but he didn't care. He went back to his perch waiting for the next one to come along.
Good times
The Mets and Cardinals used to share Al Lang every spring and my team of course was the Mets. It was such fun going and getting autos. We would bend our cards in half long ways and stick them through the chain link fence so the players could sign them..lol Or we would toss our gloves over the fence (it was really high) have a bunch of players sign it, then they would toss it back. I had a bunch of guys on my glove. George Foster, Keith Hernandez, Jesse Orosco, Mookie Wilson and more I can't remember. I ended up wearing all the names off over time because I never quit using my glove
Anyway, the one memory that really stands out was during the spring of '83. We always sat in the bleachers. Cheap seats and we had access to the players. Wally Backman hit a high foul ball and it was mine the second it left his bat. I ran down the bleachers, hit the ground and stood wear I thought the ball was gonna land. Sure enough, it landed not even a foot from me. Problem was, it was on the other side of a chain link fence that separated the bleachers from the outside of the complex.
There was this one "old" guy probably 25 at the time..lol that would never pay to get into the park. Instead, he hung out waiting for foul balls or home runs to land outside the complex. This guy used to get alot of balls, all the time. He would even jump in the bay after the ones that bounced on the road and into the water. This guy was nuts.
So there I am, I cant get the ball because the fence is tight to the ground and it won't pull up. I planned on running outside to get the ball but I see crazy dude coming! I stick both of my hands through the fence, grab the ball but it's obviously too large to fit through the fence hole. So along comes wacko, looks me dead in the eyes, smiles and pulls the ball right from my hands. I didn't cry but I sure was close to tears. The bleachers go crazy, yelling at the dude and saying stuff like "give the kid the ball" but he didn't care. He went back to his perch waiting for the next one to come along.
Good times
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1994 Pro Line Live
TheDallasCowboyBackfieldProject
feed me.
<< <i>Cats do plump when you cook them, delicious. >>
Never willing ate a cat but being that Tonya's favorite food is Chinese, I'm sure I have plenty of times
1994 Pro Line Live
TheDallasCowboyBackfieldProject
true story. good times.
Bob
email bcmiller7@comcast.net
<< <i>Sometimes, my mom would come to school and take us out of class for "family emergencies" so we could catch a game
Sounds A LOT like someone I know.
Yankee Stadium. Kid "jumps" from 2nd tier into the foul ball netting..behind and to the side of home plate. Kid claimed he was pushed, eventually came out that he was dared. Only in NY
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My Dad and I park in a friends driveway to save on parking costs.
We get out of the truck and put on our boots, gloves, snow pants and jackets.
My Dad takes his wallet out of his pocket and sets it on the bumper of the truck before he put his snow pants on. He does this so he can put his wallet in his inner pocket of his jacket for easy access during the game.
We start heading to the game (my Dad is an anal retentive worry wort) and my Dad normally checks his wallet three of four times to make sure the tickets are still there. About 200 yards from the truck he checks his wallet and POOF NO TICKETS.
My Dad goes off on the F-Bomb tirade and book it back to the truck and tear it apart and no tickets.
We start walking toward the stadium again to trace our steps in vain because if you find a ticket, let alone a Packer ticket, you are gonna keep it.
I explain to my Dad in between F-this and F-that that we should go to the ticket office and explain what happened.
To tell you the truth the ticket agent was awesome. He asked us a few questions about the owners of the tickets and he gave us hand written passes to OVERRIDE who ever was in those seats.
We walked up to our seats and sure enough, two unknowns are in our seats. My Dad gets all pissed off and starts saying get the F out you theives. I calmed my Dad down and walked down with the two people to the info booth.
While walking I found out their friend found our tickets sitting on our bumper and grabbed them. He sold them to these two people.
Now, normal rules at Lambeau are they kick these people out but I explained the story to the security dude at the info booth. He said he would not kick them out.
Now, I walk up to my seat and my Dad is finally calmed down. I told him to grab his binoculars and look at the bleechers on the field where the former Packer players sit. Sure as chit, those two people got to sit on Lambeau Field for the whole game.
Now those are some seats.
Steve
I was 7 yrs old and my dad made the mistake of telling me a week in advance that we were going to Yankee Stadium on Sunday to see them play the Detroit Tigers! It’s summertime and although I had plenty to do with my friends, time seemed to stand still. The days inched by and every night I would lie in bed with my “Official Rawlings” Duke Snider center fielder’s mitt and dream of catching a home run hit by Mickey Mantle. By Saturday night I could barely fall asleep in anticipation of taking the long trek into the Bronx to see my first major league game.
Finally, as if a century had passed, me and my dad hopped into our ’56 Buick Roadmaster and headed towards the Triborough Bridge. I liked standing on the floorboard in the back seat and counting the street lights and cars; occasionally waving at passersby, to make the time pass quicker. Suddenly, we turned into this extremely large parking lot and then I saw it! Yankee Stadium. I couldn’t believe how big it looked. It was nothing like the Vleigh Place park down the block from our apartment on 78th Avenue.
The walk from the parking lot to the stadium seemed like 10 miles but the weather was nice and the sky was as blue as the ocean at Coney Island and all I could smell were the hot dogs and hear the sounds of men selling programs for the game. My dad bought me a scorecard, a stadium pin and handed me my own ticket! We entered this huge portal and there was this man in a green cap yelling: “tickets, tickets, have your tickets out.”
There was a scary obstacle to maneuver, like a monstrous gatekeeper, that appeared as if it could knock off your head with one clean swoop – the turnstile! As I handed the man my ticket, my dad helped me to navigate through. Phew, relief. When you’re 7, something like this can be pretty intimidating!
Then we hit the opening to the inside of the ballpark and it was like nothing any child could appropriately describe. The grass was greener than anything I had ever seen and the players were on the field warming up for the game.
My dad says, “look, Yogi is up at the plate.” The crack of the bat was like the explosion of M80s that Charlie Mullen used to set off on the 4th of July.
It was magnificent. The players looked like soldiers in their perfectly tailored white pinstripes. Even the umps looked special to me! An usher helped us to our seats. We were on the first base side of the infield close to the dugout. I sat down and my dad asked me if I was hungry. I was way too excited to eat! I was fully prepared to start the game. Wearing my Brooklyn Dodger baseball cap, I proceeded to go over in my head everything I required: scorecard and pencil…check…baseball glove…check…official national league sunglasses from sending in 10 box-tops and 25 cents from Post Toasties…check. I was ready for action.
This was right after WWII and Korea and there was still a special reverence for the National Anthem. We stood and listened while this lady sang at a microphone that was placed near the field of play. It sounded kind of odd since there was a delay between her singing and hearing it on the loudspeakers. The ump yelled: “play ball!” And the Yanks took the field.
The Yanks won the game, Mickey Mantle did not hit a homer for me that day and I didn’t catch a foul ball. But that was OK with me since I had the time of my life! I did get a hot dog and a cold root beer. Had a small bag of peanuts and saved the bag since it had the Yankee logo on it. I kept score with the help of my dad who knew all the players on the NY team. I did try to get an autograph of Mickey before the game started but he never came over to where I was standing.
Well, that was many years ago. My dad is gone, the Buick Roadmaster was probably melted down to make hubcaps, I don’t know what happened to the scorecard, peanut bag or ticket stub but I do have some memories that are etched in stone.
Matt - that guy was a real piece of work!
mike
UUUHHHHH....I said boobies.
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Inagural Day, Colorado Rockies, Playing at the Old Mile High Stadium (Coors Field was still under construction). Something like 78,000 in attendance. First Rockies Batter in History, First thrown ball, Pow, into the upper seats, Home Run, the crowd goes Crazy for over 5 minutes, the memory I will have of the Rockies forever.
Neil
Your dad has a temper like mine.
1994 Pro Line Live
TheDallasCowboyBackfieldProject
lou
Steve
I think i'm gonna hire Stone to write my life story!! Hell of a read!! I could actually smell the peanuts
Summer of 71' in East L.A.(Covina,CA) and i was 10 years old. I had just signed up for my first Little League Team at Barranca Park. My team was the Dodgers!! That was coolest thing ever for me. I had all the jersey #'s and names in my head for the real Dodgers as i had already started buying packs of baseball cards at K-Mart on Citrus Ave (still there). As my mom and dad had divorced two years earlier, i did not get to experience that father/son first time at the ball park. My dad had moved north to San Jose,CA. During the little league season my coach (Don) knew of me not having a father around and went that extra mile teaching me how to hit/catch/and throw until it got near dark sometimes. Practice field was a block from my house (Eva D. Jr High) before it burned to the ground...
Our team went on to sweep our division. After our last game before playoffs were to be announced, our coach stated he was taking us all to Dodger Stadium in our uniforms!! I couldn't peddle home fast enough on my 3 speed schwynn with banana seat to tell my mom the good news!!
I remember 3 cars on the road trip to Dodger Stadium and i was in coach's station wagon sitting in the rear seat ,kinda like the Bradys. The entrance to Dodger Stadium had a steep uphill climb. Then when you get in we drove to the left, and there it was larger than life "DODGER STADIUM" in the biggest BLUE letters i've ever seen. We parked in the 76' gas station parking lot. Coach had purchased tickets for the Pavillion section (outfield seats). We were about left center. As it was still hot that night--so was the seat!!
At some point in time, i made my way down to grab a hot dog and a coke with my teammate and best friend Ron. While were walking, some guy behind a counter yelled to us " hey like the uniforms. Wanna buy some cards?". Decision time...Cards or coke (limited funds). Ron and i split the fee for the sealed package which later as i now know them as 64' Giant cards. Can't recall if there were 3 cards or 5 cards. Ron and i got our own hot dogs and split the coke. Just then there was a loud roar and we turned around to see a baseball rolling on the ground with a mob of people right behind it. Someone from the Giants had hit a home run which we missed seeing.. But who cares we had a pack to open!! When we got back up to our seats Ron opened it up and the second card in the pack was Mantle. Mantle to me was like that kid in SANDLOT--"You keep saying Babe, well? who is she?". I now know...
We had a great time that night and the Dodgers beat the hated Giants. For those that remember...the Giants usually had to walk to centerfield to get on their bus to leave the park due to unruly fans that stuck around waiting for them...
About 8 years later during my senior year in high school , i ran into my old coach Don. He actually came out to see our baseball team as we were headed for 4a championships. As we were walking back to my mom's PINTO RUNABOUT...Coach Don told me during our chat that he had purchased the tickets for that Dodger game more for me than the team back then since i didn't have a dad around. Whether true or not---Thanks for paying it foward Coach Don!!! I now pay it forward to the kids in the cancer unit at my local hospital each year....
Stone your story was way better than this!!
1. First time at Wrigley Field in June 1982. I still remember when I walked up the steps and saw the field for the first time. Very special.
2. Twins game at the Metrodome. Playing baseball in a basement is NOT baseball!! Was very generic.
On a side note I am a Vikings fan and had a blast watching football in the dome.
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My Sandberg Topps Master set
1. My wife and I made our first trip to Wrigley Field for Game 1 of the 2003 NLCS. Although the Cubs lost the game it will most likely go down as one of the greatest games I ever saw live. It was an unreal experience.
2. I've had the opportunity to do some media work in pro baseball off and on over the past few years. In teh process I've had the opportunity to get to know some great players as they are working their way through the system. One player in particular stood out in that I first communicated with him in A ball and got to see him in person when he made it to AA. A year ago he came in as a visiting player and I got to see him one afternoon. When it was time to leave I wished him well and he joked about how I made it sound like I'd never see him again. I reminded him that he was playing very well and it wouldn't come as a shock if the next time I saw him was in a Major League park. Long story short, I received a text message a few weeks later saying that he got the call and would meet up with the team when the club visited Atlanta. It just so happened that I had tickets to the very game that he joined the club. I was able to get his dad on the phone and we met up at Turner Field before the game. Another unreal experience but on a totally different level.
Ripken in the Minors * Ripken in the Minors Facebook Page
Opening day at Camden Yard!
Last day at memorial Stadium.That was awesome-over 100 old orioles on the field!!!!!
Cal Ripken last game at Yankee stadium.
Anthony Wrights 23 straight loss at shea stadium...broke a MLB record.
Beltran 9 RBI game against yankees in June.
Getting Eddie Murrays autograph as a kid in 1977.
Brooks and Frank Robinson getting inducted into the Orioles hall of fame...1977? 1978
The rest of the night is pure history!!!!!
Steve
For a West Coast Padre fan, it was a totally different experience enjoying that ballgame....words cannot describe.
<< <i>Does anyone know if McCoy stadium is still being used? >>
Yes it is, my buddy and I were there a couple of years ago.
My memories of games have not been as fun as the rest of you. I've been to a half a dozen Patriots or Red Sox games in the past few years and despite the home team winning most of them, I've had the following happen.
At my last Patriots game, some cheech got stupid drunk behind me and PUKED all over me and a couple of other people. Needless to say, we got him thrown out. Why do people have to be so freaking stupid?
At a Red Sox game a couple of years ago, the lady behind me, while trying to sit down in her seat while carrying a few beers, spilled one all down my back.
And at a Sox game last year, during a rain delay, I had purchased a cheap Sox rain poncho because we were sitting outside. Another lady shows up behind us with an umbrella, and when she goes to sit down, she tilts the umbrella forward and spills all the water down my back. Of course, it found the spot where the poncho was not covering my shirt.
And to add insult to injury, last year when the Red Sox released tickets for sale, I purchased a pair for my buddy and I to go in September. I was staying out on his parents lake house the night before the game. It's beautiful, quiet with no tv or anything, a nice escape. Well the next morning he calls me and I was thinking he wanted to talk about what we were doing. No, instead he ask me if I saw the game from the night before. When I say no, he replies that Bucholz had thrown a no hitter! I still saw a great game, but I missed the no hitter by one day.
make sure I never sit next to you at a game .... LOL
I hope your luck changes ...
cheers
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A few minutes later an usher came up to my brother and told him that Ernie Banks who was a coach at that time would like to see him by the wall. My brother couldn't beleive it and walked down to the wall, Ernie told him that Bill Madlock would like the ball because that HR was his first at Wrigley Field. Ernie offered another ball which my brother accepted for some reason. We also got in trouble that day because our Dad saw us on TV.
Mike
A very close second was seeing Ted Williams in the very first game I ever attended at Tiger Stadium.
<< <i>Around the mid 70's(1974 I beleive), my brother and I along with a bunch of friends cut school to see a Cubs game. During the game, Bill Madlock hits a towering shot off the leftfield foulpole and carooms into the left field stands where my brother was able to pick up the ball.
A few minutes later an usher came up to my brother and told him that Ernie Banks who was a coach at that time would like to see him by the wall. My brother couldn't beleive it and walked down to the wall, Ernie told him that Bill Madlock would like the ball because that HR was his first at Wrigley Field. Ernie offered another ball which my brother accepted for some reason. We also got in trouble that day because our Dad saw us on TV.
Mike >>
Hope he got Ernie to sign it!
Going to spring training games and then standing outside Holman Stadium at Dodgertown for HOURS waiting for autographs. There's no way I could put these memories in any particular order, but my time spent at that stadium is something I'll never forget. Thanks to the layout of the complex, you had the ability to bump into guys like Lasorda, Koufax, and this year Torre and Mattingly if you found yourself lucky enough. Never bumped into Koufax, but saw him from afar multiple times. I'm gonna miss those Dodgers.....
Driving to multiple stadiums a day during spring training to see a team workout in the morning, game at 1, and game at 7 that's a 2 hour drive from the 1 pm game. Done it a few times and it's just awesome to be able to spend your day seeing so many major leaguers in one day in that intimate of a setting.
Meeting Chipper Jones during Spring Training for the first time ever a couple of years ago. My hero became something that I didn't just see on tv....
Becoming best friends with the lady at the attendance part of the front office, year after year, because I get checked out so many times during Feb. and March because of Spring training.
2006 WBC Dominican Republic vs. Australia.....Crowd was ELECTRIC and were singing, dancing in the aisles, banging pots and pans, it was such a drastic change from a typical game here in the states.
2003 World Series- Game 4- Yankees vs. Marlins in Miami....Roger Clemens "last game" and the Marlins win in 12.
Seeing Yankee Stadium in person for the first time a few weeks ago.
2004 NLDS- Atlanta Braves vs. Astros- First ever Braves playoff game I went to.
2004 Regular season- Second Row, behind home plate, Dontrelle Willis vs. the Atlanta Braves. My dad had been wanting to see Willis' motion up close in person for a while, and he figured there was no better way than to see it against the Braves.
1998 Tampa Bay DEVIL Rays inaugural game vs. Detroit- I was barely 7 so some of it is blurry, but the buzz around the whole area was amazing. Saw Ted Williams and a few other HOFers (Williams is the only one that stood out to me at the age of 7) throw out the first pitch.
Sorry for how many I wrote, but I'm pretty sure that you guys can understand how I can't limit myself down to 1 with that list.
<< <i> We also got in trouble that day because our Dad saw us on TV.
>>
Save Ferris!
2. 1982 49ers beat the Cowboys in the NFC championship game
Mid to late 80's. I was 11 or 12 years old. Inter-league game between the Chicago
Cubs and Minnesota Twins at the Metrodome. I got to see my hero Ryne Sandberg
play here in Minnesota. I never did get to a game out at Wrigley while Ryno was
still playing. Seeing Ryno in the flesh made my day.
<< <i>Since when was there interleague play, besides the World Series, before 1997? >>
Just go with the story bro
EDIT: 1985 All star game maybe?
<< <i>Since when was there interleague play, besides the World Series, before 1997? >>
It could've been an exhibition game. I know in 1984, I saw the Red Sox play the Padres in San Diego. It was Graig Nettles' first appearance as a Padre, and the final pre-season game before the regular season began. Several teams do that - have their final pre-season game in their home park a day or so before the start of the regular season.
Steve