Your First Baseball Game
This is authored by Chuck. He’s out of town and I’m posting it for him. I will be out of town, too, in a few hours. Have a good 4th everyone. Try not to light yourself on fire. 🙂
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Since this is all about the nostalgia trip (at times), let’s hear about your first actual game memories. This being an off day and all (I’m writing this on 7/2), I’d love to hear stories of the first game you remember going to. Where they were, what went down, who played Anything that you remember about that first time you walked (or crawled) into a big league ballpark to see your first real-live ball. I’ve heard a coupe of your stories (Flav’s Ed-Haliki-no-no springs to mind), but let’s hear ’em.
Mine was pretty cool. For my 7th birthday, my mom, who was as far from a sports fan as could ever be imagined, took me and about 10 classmates to Bat Day for my 7th birthday in 1968. Bat Day always fell around my birthday, so I guess my mom thought it would be a great idea to take a bunch of kids to a ball game. The details of the game are hazy, I’m pretty sure the Giants played the Cards, but I’ll never forget walking through those double doors, getting that blast of air in my face, and then seeing the impossibly green field for the first time. It looked perfect. The Stick back then was still grass, and not yet enclosed for football, and I guess it was still relatively new. I don’t think it was a sell-out, but the crowd was pretty good, and we made our way to the upper deck, 1st base side. All us kids had our full sized (none of this puny half-assed bat shit) bats (I got a 32) , and were busily trying to stab each other and bash each other’s brains out. The coolest thing happened though when the Giants leadoff hitter (Jesus Alou? Bobby Bonds? No idea) came to bat. EVERY kid that got a bat started bouncing it off the ground. After 3 seconds, the whole place had the timing down. Whap whap whap! Whap whap whap! Whap whap whap! 10,000 kids beating out a rhythm. It would break out during rallies and other random times, but it sounded so cool. The two old guys in front of us didn’t like it so much, but there wasn’t jack that they could do about it. They were too busy getting their buzz on and throwing one-liners at us.
The game? Weird thing is, as cool as it was to be there, I don’t remember much about the actual game. We all ate a few hotdogs and drank all the soda that the vendors could give us. Got bags of peanuts. We got those malted things with the little wooden spoon (NOTHING reminds me of childhood more than that taste of that spoon when the ice crem’s gone). Best part was trying to see how many peanut shells we could stack onto the hats of the two old guys in front of us (who were dead asleep by the 6th inning) without them falling off or the oldsters waking up.
But there they were: Mays, McCovey, Bobby Bonds, Jesus Alou, Jimmy Ray Hart, Jimmy Davenport, and the rest. Guys whose baseball cards I had, but had never seen play. The place, and the game, seemed so impossibly big. The Giants won the game, we all left happy, and for some crazy reason, my mom thought this was such a good idea that we did this for the next 3 years. Crazier still. I still go to ballgames with one of those guys.
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Another crappy game (I’m supposed to be enjoying the fact that the Giants are ON tv here in orange county). My 1st game was actually an A’s game. 3 family’s from the neighborhood jumped in the cars and went to the Colosseum. I was 7 and didn’t know the greatness I was seeing in 1972. The freeway didn’t go thru back then so from east bay you took 13 and lots of streets. Weird to see houses with bars on the windows. Confused me. Don’t remember much about the game, but the atmosphere was electric for a kid. Hooked me! I love baseball and my dad taught me how to read the box scores. i immediately started rooting for the Giants. I started a tread that is still with me, rooting for the underdogs. I didn’t want to root for the same team as everyone else.
Im guessing Sabean will just go cheap at the deadline.He might add another spot starter especially if Timmy and when Zits starts to implode.You need more then 3 starters throwing good.
Possible trade pick up…Marco Estrada (my pick) Clayton Richards,Jason Vargas all have reasonable contracts with Estrada probably the best of these guys at a very cheap 485K
They also have to have a RH hitting Outfielder with pop.Again Sabes,won’t spend much their either,probably going for a decent OBP guy like a Chris Deforna who doesnt have alot of pop but has a .290 avg and a ..354 OBA.
Bum sucked today. Except for Pagan and Cabrera, the entire team seemed like they were sleep walking in this game. Who knows? Maybe they still were asleep due to the early start.
Sandoval? 3 for 4, HR, 3 RBI was sleep walking? and late replacement Pagan (0-2) was good? I’m not getting that at all, Steve.
Whoops – you’re absolutely right. I woke up too early I should have said. 🙂
The Nats hit three oppo homers today. We have two all year.
Give ’em the World Series, DMD..
Wouldn’t surprise me one bit. The Nats are a complete ball club. First in pitching, third in defense and their hitting is starting to heat up.
I’ve been warning about them for a couple years. But you always trash what you claim is your team, DMD. Now it’s “oppo homers.” Diggin’ deep, pal.
Another crap game. But, this is a holiday, and it beats working, so hope everyone has a great 4th!
Chuck, you are asking a lot from us to try and remember what happened 5 Decades ago. That is the only thing I remember about my first game is that the field was the most beautiful thing to look at, but of course like blades brother when the teenage years happened, there were some pretty beautiful women to stare at too
Kevin, it’s OK. As he says, he doesn’t remember either.
I was good with topic, wasn’t complaining just pointing out how OLD I am
Hey Kevin, I see you approved the Flap super trade of the year . . . Good luck going forward!
If it gets me out of the cellar I will thank you!!! Ha ha
clicked over to Encore channel to catch Otis Day and the knights doing shout with Mrs Wormer crashing into the back of a car to end it. If there’s a better sequence in movies, I don’t know what it its.
Well you can do to us what you want. but we’re not going to sit here, and listen to you bad mouth the united states of america! Gentlemen!
geez, anybody can do Animal House quotes . Try this:
“If I pull the arrow out, will you please suck out the poison?”
“Let me get this straight. You pull it out, I suck. Is there any money in it for me”……
the game is finished at it is not even noon; must be strange in California. Not to mention the loss.
Giants, sans their All Stars, get 5 out of the next 8 days off after their series with the Pirates, with their Houston series at home. In short, no excuses with regard to the following:
1. Lack of sleep.
2. Eating poorly . . . and no Timmy, that doesn’t mean at the Triple burger joint across the street from your condo.
3. Nefarious women . . . Pablo, et. al., stay away from Pat the Bat (including you married guys).
4. Motorcycles.
5. Ginzu knifes and frozen beef paddies.
Things to do while on vacation:
1. Go to church and exercise your minds.
2. Study tape.
3. Do volunteer work and help old ladies cross busy intersections.
I will help an old bag cross a street, as long aa I can do the same with a Hottie.Actually that will workout quite well as the hottie will think ,Wow what a wonderful guy,helping that elderly citizen,he can do know wrong in my book.
Ecstasy to agony weekly. Keep an even keel, guys. They do.
I guess I will go choke on a piece burnt meat to celebrate this overrated holiday.
Being able to celebrate that your dinner is not called Spotted Dick or Bubble and Squeak ( what the Spotted Dick does when cooked) is enough reason to set off fireworks tonight..
try England – it’s like Europe only in English.
😀
You don’t see as many Dicks as you did 30-40 years ago. Spotted or otherwise…
Dennis in the stable checking things out. Yeeeee
Richard (or Dick) has never been in the top 100 baby names this century. we need a good Dick mothers can look up to and want to name their sons after.
Like tricky Dick
Yeah Edd,What the hell were the Pole’s thinking when they named their son(former pitching coach) Dick Pole.
Btw Happy 4th over on the mote EDD!
What’s on the BBQ today Bangers and Newcastle Ale?
Going with Baby Backs Ribs and corn and potatoes on the Q today along with Alaskan Amber Ale.
or the racing driver Richard Trickle
Yeah, it took 17 days for news of the independence to reach the mother lode, so my friends are having the 4th of July party on the 21st.
Two years ago I went to a pub in Nottingham were Americans gather and they were having a 4th of July party.
Nothing’s more American than watching a bunch of schmucks see how many hot dogs they can scarf down in 10 minutes. I’ll set the O/U for Joey Chestnut at 62 1/2 dogs. And since I’m feeling extra patriotic today, I’ll take the OVER.
If you want to put your homicidal urges to good use , see how many of those M-80s that Joey can suck down. “Competitive Eating” sounds OK. “Competitive Being a Digusting Pig” just never caught on, I guess..
In those 10 minutes Joey consumed 1,428g of fat, 46,512mg of sodium and 993g of protein.
Joey might wanna consider a light beer to wash that all down.
Chuck’s bday is Apr 25th (I haven’t read all the comments so maybe someone noted that already. He said his bday fell around bat day every yr so you’re right it probably wouldn’t be too hard to find
Well, there wasn’t a game on his birthday, and he thought it might have been St. Louis but they didn’t play them until May 3. I can find nothing about bat day at all. Wait, there’s this:”when Senator Robert F. Kennedy was killed, William Eckert, baseball’s commissioner, thought it prudent that teams play. But several teams, including the Mets, objected. Twice, the Mets voted not to play on the Saturday after Kennedy’s assassination in Los Angeles in early June 1968, but the San Francisco Giants initially voted to proceed with Bat Day..
Subsequently, the Giants’ owner, Horace Stoneham, relented, ”in deference” to Kennedy’s death. He also issued a statement that expressed regret at disappointing the ”thousands of young fans who had intended to attend the Bat Day game.” So actually bat day was supposed to be on Saturday June 7 that year-( the schedule comfirms that the game was canceled that day). It would been against the Mets, they played a double header on the 8th, we swept. Bottom line: there was no bat day in 1968- which is NOT to denigrate Chuck’s remembrance. I’ve often noted that one of the beauties of this wonderful game is that as time passes it’s not the details, it’s the ambiance, the poetry, the romance- a lovely day at the ballpark, good enough for me.But I think we really wanna hear more about the sheep, Chuck 😉
I have a large group of friends that has been together since high school. We call it the “best memories” because we all remember them differently.
It would have been on a sat or sun the week b4 or after since that qualifies as “around” his birthday. But whatever, maybe it was in August, who knows….
One thing I won’t be having is a Gourmet Dinner (by Trippi out of Potluck Dinner) for tonight. But I will be using the 4yo bay colt at a price up next in the Poker Stakes at Belmont. Good luck.
Perfect fit for the Giants as their 4th OF/ 2B with Pop,RH hitter Stl Cards Allen Craig.Dirt cheap Salary,not sure what prospects to give up,maybe even Hector or Josephs,Nate a throw in and another player.This guy is solid IMO.Great OBP as well.
Why the hell would the Cards wanna part w/ a guy in the middle of their lineup who’s hitting > .300 while they’re still smack dab in the pennant race? Craig’s not coming here let alone anywhere else.
Why would the cards trade Craig?
Hey they probably wouldn’t Sportsdude,he’s just a perfect fit.Just make a call,doesn’t hurt,anybody is tradeable with the right package.
It’s ridiculous, Kat.
Funny story from this morning…I was watching ESPN and Mark Mulder was dissecting Timmy’s performance from last night and was noting how he’s lost command of his fastball. They showed numerous examples of when Timmy was nowhere near his intended target. Mulder was doing an excellent job of analysis…until he wrapped things up by saying, “If the Giants want to get back in this thing, Timmy’s will have to…”
Uh, Mark. Have ya check out the standings lately. Get back in this thing? For most of these guys, if it’s not written on a cue card, they haven’t a clue.
I think Mark already conceded it to the Dodgers, DMD.
Mulder is just another x-jock with no clue.Same goes with JT Snow and Shaun Estes,both horrible.
Dennis…That Antlers prime rib joint you talk about sounds like a great place to go!
I used to drive up to an obscure place in Port Costa called Juanita’s which is down by the CH Sugar plant.It was a converted Whorehouse,(damm before my time) that served HUGE Prime Ribs+ the whole ala Cart menu for 15bucks maybe 20.They also had a full bar and served their beer in mason jars.Really cool place!!!! Juanita would stop by your table and shoot the breeze with you as well.She was quite famous,heavy set gal with a foul mouth as well,perfect for this place with great food!!!
Don’t know Juanita, but when you mentioned Port Costa I immediately thought of the Bull Valley Inn. It’s another old fine establishment that serves prime rib on Fri/Sat night. But there’s is just a tad more than the Antler’s unbeatable $10 price on Fridays.
Sticking with that part of the neighborhood, I’m sure you’ve probably heard of the Nantucket down on the wharf in Crockett. Nice seafood joint. When the weather’s nice you can sit outside on their patio and look at the boats.
I see where Cliff Lee, the Phillies “Lincecum,” has just won his first game this season.
Lee has pitched way better than Tim.
This is a results oriented league Twin.
Pitchers are not rated by just W-L anymore. You may have noticed that when Felix won the CY, if you hadn’t before. As I said, Lee has pitched way better than Timmy.
Another blast from the past, K. Farnsworth, last year’s Tampa Bay closing sensation, just got back from the DL and is pitching middle relief. I doubt that he replaces Fernando Rodney in the closer gig, since he has been lights out this year
4 straight walks by Farnsworth. They should put him back on the DL.
I agree Mac . . . He cost me a win in FL (Price). Whoops! Don’t tell Twin that – wins don’t matter. 🙂
According to your position, Price sucked today because he didn’t win.
I wasn’t the brightest kid on the block, but when I went to my first ballgame I had a hunch the grass would be green. Even in Brooklyn, I had seen a few lawns and a couple of parks that had it. What was so “impossible” about it?
“A Lawn Grows in Brooklyn?” I think some woman wrote a book about that.
Hey Dennis, the Suburban came up pretty strong for Saturday. MMM owes me a small fortune…
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn is a 1943 novel written by Betty Smith.
Big deal . . . Obviously, Betty never visited Colorado.
Loo, MMM is one of my many “Stable Alert” horses. I’ve saved the last three e-mails from his workouts — oh, my. He has post 7 and Mike Smith along for the ride in Saturday’s Suburban. I don’t wanna jinx you, me or the horse, but I think he’s sitting on a corker. “In Fine Fettle” doesn’t even begin to tell his story…[no jinx]
How is he working DMD? Has he run since that stinker at CD on Oaks day?
No, Loo, MMM has not raced since he ran a distant third in the Alysheba on Oaks Day. How’s he working? Here’s his three published works since that race…•30Jun Sar 5f ft :58¨ B 1/4 •23Jun Sar tr.t 4f ft :48 B 1/37 •15Jun Bel tr.t 4f ft :46ª B 1/29
Wow…..don’t you think it’s high time you and I cashed one together?
That should read 58 1/5 and 46 3/5 to make the record straight. You can toss his one try over the course (Belmont Stks) that was in the slop. I think the one-turn 1 1/8 only adds to his appeal. He romped in the GP Handicap back in March.
I think you’re onto something with the one turn angle, Dennis. I’m in…….deep.
I think part of it is that the optical illusion in football is that the field looks bigger on TV than it is in real life, and the NBA court looks bigger on TV than it really is, so there’s actually a little bit of disappointment in that regard when you go to those events in person. But baseball is different. The baseball field on TV tends to look smaller than it really is, so when you go to the games, especially the first time, there’s the pleasant surprise of the field being BIGGER than you thought it was going to be. A big wonderful green field, and crisply cut-out infield, that you’d love to be able to play baseball on.
Growing up in Pittsburgh, where everything seemed a sooty gray then, the grass at Forbes Field indeed seemed impossibly green. Here? Not so much.
Can’t wait for you guys to see a live hockey game so you can tell me what color the blue line is….
At least someeone is calling out all the saccharrine remembrances, of which I contribute my fair share. Come on- Mommy was a slut, the kids were underweight pimply brats because Dad blew the grocery money on hags that are still running, the only thing we remember about our first game is that we ended the day in Child Protective Services.. fess up.
Yeah ive been to the Bull’s Inn as well Dennis.It’s right on the corner of that dead in block.Juanita’s is just across from them.Hey Both are good ; hard to get to if you don’t know the area,guirky dive joints,but fucking awesome food,worth the adventure off the beaten track.
Heard of Nantuckett,never been there though,maybe a road trip in the future.Sounds like a place i would love to check out,along with your joint Antlers.Maybe on a trip back from Reno/Tahoe.
BTW…With the Trade deadline coming up,maybe a Stable boy,Dirty Dozen would want to do Giant trades Post.Sure that would get heated after you all ripped me a new asshole over the Allen Craig thought.Nobody can come up with a trade thought,without getting slammed,so lets here other proposals.
Juanita had a boatload of restaurants,at least a couple of which burned down under suspicious circumstances.
Carlos Lee to the Marlins…
Tough baseball/movie trivia question for the Fourth of July. What’s the name of the player who catches the ball on the warning track as you hear on the radio while Mayor Vaughn looks anxiously over the crowded beach in Amity?
I don’t remember the name that the announcer , Charlie Jones who *was* a play-by-play announcer for the Reds, says but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t a real player
Charlie was a good announcer, he did a lot of golf with my Dad. I think he usually got the 17th hole- back then 15 through 18 were all that were covered for most tournaments. Charlie is in the NFL’s broadcasting HOF, the Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award.
Perfect. You know while I was typing Charlie Jones’ name I was asking myself “I wonder if twin’s dad knew him?”
I suppose I could watch through my Netflix acct. but I’ll let someone else do that if they think it’s worth it.
What’s the answer, DMD?
Ted was right, it wasn’t a real baseball player’s name. I’m thinking Steven Spielberg had a good friend named Jerry Christian along the way…
I bow to you, sir, for knowing that
You know what else is interesting–and it’s one of the reasons I love The Flap–not one of us ever mentioned, because we didn’t have to, the name of the film Dennis was referring to. We just–knew
Guess I won’t get to my first-game write-up tonight. All wired up in a hospital sleep center for, obviously, a sleep study, about which I remain dubious. I look like a feckin monkey cosmonaut chimp feckin astronaut guinea pig.
what the fuck are you doing, lol?
no shit, I’ve got about 12 electrodes on me and other shit to see if I have sleep apnea. I feel like a fool. I can send you a pic, but too feckin embarrassing. fuckyoutoobozo
Pawlie’s starry night?
I can’t possibly imagine sleeping like this. I have a hard enough time under the best of conditions. And no porn! BTW, speaking of porn-abstinence, where is our guy of the north woods, Stix?
you see, this is an example of the genius that is “DJLoo” that the world fails to honor. POTD? Ummmm, yeah.
Stix got lost in the woods. Dennis got lost in the fog. There’s a little town in Oregon on a lake called LakeintheWoods that I went to years ago—-good times.
hey, check this site out if you want to figure out stuff about a game; I’m searching Whitey Ford – Billy Pierce, and pretty sure I found it.
http://www.backtobaseball.com/search.php?s%5Btype%5D=regular&s%5Bplayer%5D=Whitey+Ford
Wishing for a good outcome, Paul. What are the possibilities besides sleep apnea? Send me an E-mail if you don’t to discuss it here. If you wish..
Rich get richer file – “In an unforeseen twist that could thrust the Los Angeles Lakers straight back into title contention, two-time NBA MVP Steve Nash has successfully negotiated a sign-and-trade deal from the Phoenix Suns to the Lakers that will team him up with Kobe Bryant.”
Interpretation of “sign and trade” means that David Stern once again fucked the “have nots” of the NBA.
David Stern. What a Sternum
Yep . . . Especially galling after Nash said in a radio interview last week that he would have a hard time putting on a Lakers (or Heat) uniform due to their playoff clashes in the past. Don’t get me wrong, I like Nash, he is a class person, but that statement is total BS.
Anywho, the real dick head in this deal is Stern allowing it to happen.
Wanna hear another rigged one for tonight? The girl who made it to the bonus round on Wheel of Fortune was named Precious. The puzzle answer (thing) was Precious Cargo. How many times did she have to blow Pat to win that extra $35,000?
On Let’s Make A Deal, the Big Deal involves three doors, famously known as “Door #1”, “Door #2”, and “Door #3”, each of which contains a prize or prize package. In the two-trader format used until 2003, the top winner of the two was offered the first choice of a door, and the second trader was then offered a choice of the two remaining doors. I always thought this was rigged, i.e., either Carol Merrill or Jay Stewart was behind the doors pushing the good stuff out after a door was selected and putting a “Zonk” prize in the space. I never trusted Monty, Carol or Jay.
Pawlie, I am very well versed about sleep apnea and the various treatment modalities. Unfortunately, all too well. If you need any advice from somebody who has been through a lot, please let me know. There are certain websites and groups that are well worth knowing to get the real info on downsides and upsides of various treatments, etc. There is a great sleep apnea patient community out there where you can really learn what might work, and what does not. I’ve done some of them, including surgery. We can talk offline if you want to do so…
I often watch Jeopardy. Usually I get the channel switched before that dreadful Wheel of Fortune music begins. If I’m late and the music starts… well, it can get ugly here.
Jeopardy use to be my favorite show back in the 60s and early 70s with Art Fleming and Don Pardo. I like the show with Trabek too, since the format is the same . . . However, I rarely watch it today, except when I visit my parents. It use to be something my Mom and I did when I lived at home. She still watches it religiously. Same thing with Wheel of Fortune, but like you Mike, I hate that show and usually go in the other room where their computer is.
Goodnight all. BTW, if it was missed, Bat Day in 1968 was supposed to be June 7 against the Mets. The game was cancelled due to the RFK assassination. They played a double header the next day. Haven’t seen that it was rescheduled but I’d think it was unless Stoneham saved the bats for 1969..
Yer right, Mike. I just saw my friend yesterday (who was there) and realized that he didn’t go to my school in 1st grade. He got there in 2nd grade, which puts the game around the weekend after April 25th, 1969 . . .
So it was my 8th birthday, not my 7th . . .
Great post today, Chuck….
Thanks . . .