I love baseball - share your best memories (8 Viewers)

[pltrgyst]

Baseball memories? Yankees all the way. A bit of rambling:

Mickey Mantle's shot off the right field facade in the Stadium, as depicted with a heavy dotted-line arrow on the back page (full page!) of the Daily News.

Mantle's 565-foot shot in (and out of) Griffith Stadium, similarly depicted.

My dad was the only Yankee fan among six brothers in NJ. The other morons opted for the Dodgers and Giants.

Oh, did I mention that my name is Lawrence Peter Larson, named after Lawrence Peter Berra (aka Yogi)?

And that I was born on October 20, which also happens to be Mickey Mantle's birthday?
------

More personally, I mostly pitched in high school, playing second or first when I wasn't pitching.

Pitching memo to all grandkids: Don't start throwing a screwball when you're 14 years old. You'll pay for it later in life.

One day I was playing first. Grounder to short, shortstop throws an anti-aircraft missile, I leap up to snag it, and the runner runs into me while I'm up in the air. We fall, me on the bottom, and I crack my right kneecap into four pieces. I play three more innings, including a triple over the right-fielder's head. Next day I'm in a heavy plaster full leg cast for five months. Of course when the doofus technician cuts that cast off with a power saw, he slices into my leg about eight inches long.

Fun game, but sometimes you pay the price.

My favorite baseball story ever, that I posted here in 2019:

------

My favorite all-time baseball story involved Richie Ashburn of the Phillies. He lined a foul ball into the third base stands, it hit a woman behind the dugout, and they had to call for medical assistance. Play stopped for a minute as she was treated.

When they started up again as she was being carried off on a stretcher, Ashburn lined another ball foul and hit her again!

Ah, found it:

"Foul balls have been shot into the stands like missiles since baseball began. The strangest incident occurred on August 17th, 1957 in Philadelphia during a game against the New York Giants.

Hall of Famer Richie Ashburn hit a foul ball that struck “Alice Roth squarely in the face, breaking her nose,” writes Daven Hiskey. “The game was then paused as medics came in to tend to Roth. As they were carrying her away on a stretcher, play was resumed and Ashburn fouled off the first pitch thrown to him. This foul struck Roth as she was being carried off by the medics.”

The second foul ball broke a bone in her knee. “The fan, Alice Roth, was the wife of the sports editor for The Philadelphia Bulletin who was there with her two grandsons,” Bill Chuck notes. “There was blood everywhere.”"

(I still love baseball, and my old Nellie Fox bat shaped like a telephone pole, but I'll always prefer individual sports.)

 

[dpeks13]

In little league the team I was on was sponsored by our local Funeral home. No shit. We even had our team picture hanging in the lobby.

 

[Big Jilm]

I love baseball too man.

Playing:

Tee ball: Nope, zero memories there. I know I played on the whitesox and hated my team, bunch of cunts.

Coach pitch: Not a lot of fond memories here either. Except, one day one of the parents (not mine) said she would buy me an ice cream for every HR I hit. I had never hit a home run before. I hit 2 that day.

Little League: Ah, now it starts getting good. I was the fastest kid in the league. I led the league in stolen bases BY FAR. My favorite thing to do though, was steal home. I would lead off nearly half way to home. Most pitchers didn't know enough to step off the rubber and have me dead to rights. As soon as they made their move to 3rd, I was gone. Hit about .460 and had a 3.20 ERA with about 40 SB. I only know this due to a baseball with my stats that was awarded to me at the end of the year. My favorite pitching moment was a curve ball I threw to a kid 3x my size. It was heading straight for his head and then just bombed into the strike zone. The kid fell backward on his ass as the ump called it a strike. It was beautiful! Never was able to throw one like it ever again. Outside of that I played a mean CF due to my former speed and made some great catches.

And that's it! Track was a Spring sport like baseball in high school, and I was way more gifted in track than BB. lol
However, even at 47; I can rifle throws into your chest every time, until it hurts....which takes about 30 to 40 min, haha

Watching:

My father (RIP) took me to hundreds of Angels and Dodgers games as a kid. But it wasn't just ordinary circumstances. My Dad was a district manager for a grocery chain. So, back in the day, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Budweiser, or Coors etc would comp him with ridiculous tickets when that kind of thing was allowed. For example, we always sat near the dugout on the first or 3rd base side. But sometimes, we got incredible tickets. I have taken pre-game tours of the stadium (Anaheim), sat in the press box, and sat in the suites several times. My father even threw out a first pitch one night. I got to meet the umpires and several players. It was awesome! Weird thing is, with all those games.....never got a fucking foul ball. Came close sooo many times. haha

Also got to watch my former hero Mark McGwire crush homers at multiple parks, LA, Anaheim, and SD. It was painful to watch on TV when Kirk Gibson hit that HR that will forever be remembered. I still think about it, how much it hurt, and how great it really was. Stinks McGwire got on "the list" when he was hiding NOTHING. The shit was on top of his locker DURING press interviews. lol

Collecting:

Ah, now this was something I got to really share with my Dad during the mid to late 80's and early 90's. We hit baseball card conventions in So Cal all the time acquiring HOF autographs. Keep in mind my Dad would work 10 to 12 hr, come home exhausted, catch my pitching and never complain. He was a great dude. Anyway, off the top of my head; we got to meet and get autographs of the following players: Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Lou Brock, Rod Carew, Steve Carlton, McGwire and Canseco, Bob Feller, Whitey Ford, Brooks Robinson, Stan Musial, Harmon Killebrew, Mickey Mantle, Johnny Mize, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Willie Stargell, among others. Most autographs were on 8x10 glossy pics or on baseballs. Also, when I met Willie Mays, he didn't acknowledge me. He signed my ball then tossed it....it rolled off the table. I was mortified. What an ASSHOLE. However, when I met Hank Aaron, he took the time to meet me and thank me! We placed a 1956 Topps card in front of him to sign and he laughed, "Who is that kid?" He was so amazing and I am grateful to have met him.

But, the best thing I got, was my Dad's autograph. When he was about 75 or so I made him sign a clean white MLB ball. I brought one to practice on because damn....it actually is hard! He signed it on the sweet spot. He passed away at 80. I also had another ball I made him sign on the sweet spot. On that one, I have signed, my brother has signed, my son has signed, and some day my brothers kids will sign as well.

So, yeah....I LOVE BASEBALL.

 

[VivasTable]

Clinking shot glasses and shooting one with Derek Jeter at Firehouse Bar, WMU campus Kalamazoo, Mi. Does that count? True story

 

[Sneakygreek]

Clinking shot glasses and shooting one with Derek Jeter at Firehouse Bar, WMU campus Kalamazoo, Mi. Does that count? True story

We are going to need to see some evidence

 

[VivasTable]

We are going to need to see some evidence

I have absolutly zero evidence but the story goes....It was WMU Winter break, January, 2001 sometime after midnight. We knew he was there, the VIP was heavily guarded but the bar was light because most students were still home. I get let in the VIP area with a gang of ladies (all of whom can confirm this story) and Jeter proceeds to waive us all over to the bar where there's some 30 shots of Patron lined up. Everyone starts chanting MVP MVP and cheers around, i clink glasses with the man and take the shot. I was pretty hammered, I blurted a bunch of dumb shit in all the excitement haha. He just hung out for about an hour drinking and getting drooled on by sorority chicks. It was pretty epic

 

[bergs]

We need more seasons like 94-95.

Play less games

Suck my balls, laHawk.

 

[bergs]

Baseball memories? Yankees all the way. A bit of rambling:

Mickey Mantle's shot off the right field facade in the Stadium, as depicted with a heavy dotted-line arrow on the back page of the Daily News.

Seeing this live would have been amazing. If anyone has ever been to the old Stadium, looking up in right and trying to imagine a ball hit that hard and that high and still going up when it hit the top of the facade - it’s ridiculous.

 

[casinochipper22]

For only going to a handful of games, I have a pretty funny story, happened about 7 years ago.

My buddy gives me a great deal on his season tix to a padres game at petco park. 4 seats right in front of 1st base. Like three rows up from the field. I bring my wife, father, and step mom, but I'm the only one "tailgating" drinking alone before the game. We get there early to enjoy the seats and watch the warm up. After a handful of beers, I head to the bathroom in the special lower area, still before the game. It's behind the outfield wall. As I'm heading there I walk past a line of about 15 people. All lined up against the wall. The end of that line is next to the bathroom that was occupied, so I start talking to the guys at the end of the line, asking what they are doing. The last guy tells me they are receiving some award for something or other, like a charity thing. Bathroom opens, I go in, and as I'm coming out, the outfield wall opens up and the line of guys begin walking onto the field. One at a time they start walking out onto the field, from the outfield, down the first base foul line. Now I don't remember if it was one split second, or two split seconds, but in that time I decided "fuck it, I'm going too" and I just follow the last guy out onto the field. As soon as my foot hits the warning track my heart starts pounding. They keep walking and walking. all the way down to home plate and they all stay lined up looking out into the stands. Coincidentally I'm still at the end of the line which comes to a stop DIRECTLY in front of my wife, father, and step mom. The announcer introduces this group, photographers are running around taking pictures. I'm waving, smiling for the cameras. Then I lock eyes with my family. My wife is laughing. My dad looks like he wants to strangle me, and my step mom looks like she saw a ghost. After a couple minutes that seemed like an hour, I lead the way back off the field and quietly make my way back into my seat.

 

[TomC727]

Seeing this live would have been amazing. If anyone has ever been to the old Stadium, looking up in right and trying to imagine a ball hit that hard and that high and still going up when it hit the top of the facade - it’s ridiculous.

Mariano coming out of the bullpen at Old Yankee Stadium. Epic!!!!

 

[Dodger]

It’s Opening Day!

 

[DrStrange]

When my sons were in cub/boy scouts, one of our summer camping trips most years was a father's day weekend that included a Sunday game at either the Astros or Rangers. We camped somewhere "close" and then drove to the Sunday game on the way home.

One year the team had a father & son "run the bases" promotion after the game. So we took twenty kids and four adults down to the field and ran the bases. Like trying to herd cats. A couple of kids went straight to the pitcher's mound. Someone had to go to the bathroom. Somehow, we made it through the 360 feet of the basepath and eventually everyone got back to the cars. It was a lot more fun in hindsight than it was at the time.

oh, and the Astros lost that game. Truth is, our Scouts were mostly the kiss of death for the home teams. I think we lost pretty much every year.

DrStrange

 

[snooptodd]

It's 1993, I'm 15 years old and the family is in Toronto for a family vacation a week before my older brother is getting set to go off to college. While we're there, my dad, brothers and I decide to go see our first MLB game in person (for all four of us), as the Blue Jays host Ken Griffey Jr. and the Seattle Mariners. Randy Johnson is taking the mound for the Mariners. We don't have tickets because the Blue Jays sell out every game that year, and this is long before the advent of Seat Geek, Stub Hub, etc., so our plan is to buy tickets from a scalper. I grew up in a town with about 6,000 permanent residents and 3,000 college students. So none of us, most especially not my father, has any idea how to interact with scalpers.

We hear a guy yelling "Tickets! Who needs tickets?" so we approach him. We say we need four and we're not looking to spend tons of money. He shows us four tickets fanned out with a face value of $7/each and offers us all four for $120. My Dad barters him down to $100, though the guy puts on a great act, saying, "You strike a tough bargain! This game is a hot ticket tonight with Junior in town and Randy Johnson pitching!"

My dad is feeling pretty proud of himself, then looks at the tickets. Across the middle of all four tickets, "VIEW PARTIALLY OBSTRUCTED" is printed in bright red bold font. The scalper had quite skillfully covered that up when he was showing us the tickets. My father is simultaneously pissed that he got ripped off, and also thinks it's hilarious that he got duped. He looks up to try to argue with the scalper, but he's disappeared into a sea of people. That's what we get for being bumpkins, I guess.

We get to our seats, and we are literally as high up as we can be in (what was then called) the Skydome, top row in right field. We couldn't see 3rd base, most of center field or any of left field. The roof was open, and while you couldn't get out onto the edge of the dome, it felt alarmingly close and I swear I could feel the building sway (it was a windy night).

In spite of these conditions, we have a blast. After about three innings, my dad points to a group of four seats about 30-40 rows down that no one has sat in yet.

"If those are still empty by the 5th, we're going down there," he says.

Sure enough, the seats remain unfilled, and we sneak down to claim the seats and actually see the entire field for the second half of the game.

The Big Unit threw a complete game three hitter, but one of those hits was a Joe Carter blast that may not have landed yet, 30 years later. I couldn't believe how far it went. Later that season, he clinched the World Series with a walk-off blast off Mitch Williams and the Phillies.

My family didn't the money to go on trips like that when I was younger. My parents started to finally get on solid financial ground a few years prior to this, so going to a city 5 hours away and taking in an MLB game was a very special treat. It's crazy to me that I remember all these details, but it shows just how important those moments can be. Thanks for the prompt, Bergs, this was fun to remember and write.

(FWIW, here's the box score from that day. I didn't remember the day, but was able to track the game down looking for Randy Johnson's starts in '93.)

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=199308200TOR

 

[bergs]

ALL RISE. First at-bat, on pace for 530 homers this year.

The MLB app is great if you don’t live in market for your favorite team. $149 for the entire season for every team - less than $1 per game or less than $30/month.

 

[Mandos]

I love opening day.

 

[LotsOfChips]

 

[Venturalvn]

My best memory is when they had to add a bunch of new rules in the upcoming season so they could beg people to watch it.

 

[bergs]

My best memory is when they had to add a bunch of new rules in the upcoming season so they could beg people to watch it.

You don’t have to suck my balls quite yet, but you oughta stretch just in case.

 

[Highli99]

Two things:

1. Winning “fan of the game” at Camdem Yards as a 15-year-old and beating a busty blonde to do so. I won with a contortionist arm trick I used to be able to do with my shoulders which I dubbed “el torcedor”

2. That time in April 2015 when I bet 3 buddies I would catch a home run and then proceeded to do so roughly 20 minutes later. Bare handed a 410’ bomb at nearly sold-out game. The ball now resides on a golden trophy molded out of my own hands

 

[Highli99]

Two things:

1. Winning “fan of the game” at Camdem Yards as a 15-year-old and beating a busty blonde to do so. I won with a contortionist arm trick I used to be able to do with my shoulders which I dubbed “el torcedor”

2. That time in April 2015 when I bet 3 buddies I would catch a home run and then proceeded to do so roughly 20 minutes later. Bare handed a 410’ bomb at nearly sold-out game. The ball now resides on a golden trophy molded out of my own hands

 

[bergs]

Two things:

1. Winning “fan of the game” at Camdem Yards as a 15-year-old and beating a busty blonde to do so. I won with a contortionist arm trick I used to be able to do with my shoulders which I dubbed “el torcedor”

2. That time in April 2015 when I bet 3 buddies I would catch a home run and then proceeded to do so roughly 20 minutes later. Bare handed a 410’ bomb at nearly sold-out game. The ball now resides on a golden trophy molded out of my own hands

This is fucking awesome ^^

Four of us sat just foul of the right field pole in the front row one day in July back in the mid 90s. Paul O’Neil was up (lefty) and sliced one towards the pole. My buddy backed everyone away to give the ball a chance to hit the pole for a dinger. True fan, that guy.

Anyway the ball is gonna foul by a couple feet. He reaches out to grab it. I’m directly behind him. My hands are up but if he deflects it I’m getting brained by this screaming line drive.

I hear it hit his fat mitts (he’s 6’3” probably 240 at the time with big ole hands) and he goes to turn around to the crowd behind us with the ball.

At that moment he realizes his right hand is broken. He drops the ball.

It hits the top of the wall and bounces. Time slows down.

And has it falls back into the field of play, he leans over two of us grab his belt from behind, and he snatches the ball with his left hand.

Then he finally turns around with the ball and the crowd goes fucking nuts.

We were briefly on SportCenter that night. Yankees won that game too.

I still have the ball on my desk at home and toss it up in the air during long conference calls.

 

[TheRealTeddyKGB]

It's 1989 & I just got one of my favorite players autograph on my Giants Spring Training visor: Will Clark. He almost looked a little annoyed when he signed it for me but I didn't care at all: This was my 1st trip to Scottsdale & I was in heaven!!

FAST FWD to about a year & 1/2 later.

Now I'm in T.G.I Fridays San Mateo. The same friend that I went to AZ with is working as a bartender there & were getting some food/drinks after his shift.

We notice Kevin "Boogie Bear" Mitchell drinking some crazy looking disco drinks with his friends & realized that I was wearing that same autographed visor.

I walked over to ask him to sign it & he greeted me with a huge smile and said "of course!" He immediately shot me a look after examining my item. (I didn't understand why) He then proceeded to sign it, pause to shoot me another look then wrote something more. He handed it back to me, smiled & said "GO GIANTS" & I put it on & walked proudly back to my table.

When I got there my friend asked "that's awesome, have you seen it yet?" I replied no & he smiled as if he knew something I didn't.

I took it off and was horrified: he wrote his name & added "MVP." That part was really cool but he also added a big underline that started under MVP & went straight thru Will Clark's signature!!

On this day I learned all ball players DON'T get along...

 

[slisk250]

This is a bergs style post.

My best baseball memories actually have nothing to do with baseball. I grew up about a half mile from Patterson Field in Mesa, AZ. That was the winter home for the Cubs for a long time. Everybody knows that Harry Carey was a lush. We would break into the press box at night and raid Harry’s bar fridge. It was loaded with the Club pre mixed cocktails from that time. They kept trying different ways to hide or lock his booze up but we got it every time until they started putting a guard at night. Spring Training was just party time, nobody gave ma crap.

 

[timinater]

Iconic.

That whole game is available on Apple TV and YouTube and well worth the rewatch.

The 7th inning took 53 minutes to play. Here's the whole game but I've started it at the top of the 7th:

 

[krafticus]

Orioles home opener with @Chippy McChiperson

 

[Venturalvn]

Orioles home opener with @Chippy McChiperson

View attachment 1114757

Looks like a shot clock foul to me - they aren't they scoring yet.

 

[mburnznj]

My personal story:
Played the game on and off for most of my life, "retired" about 14 years ago from competitive leagues when my oldest was born. Love the game, now I coach my 2 daughters.

It's my last year I'd play (I was the "old man" on the team now), and it's a game on a hot summer Sunday. I'm in right field when the dude at the plate hits a monster pop fly. Problem is, it's looking like it's going to land 10 feet in the outfield directly behind second base. Our second baseman and shortstop are just staring at each other and the center fielder is standing there, no one is taking charge of the ball.

Seeing that the ball is going to drop I get on my horse and haul ass to the ball. I give a full out head first dive, glove stretched out, and land and slide about 5 feet on the grass. I jump right up, throw my glove hand in the air, pull the ball out out my glove. I hear someone shout from one of the dugouts, "Did he really catch that?!"

Few batters later the inning is over and I'm jogging off the field when I notice my pitcher standing near the mound. I jog over to him and without him saying a word to me just gives me the hardest bear hug I've ever had...lifting me off the ground.

I can't remember who won that day but every so often I remember that play and it makes it all worth it.

 

[Perthmike]

I was flicking through some American channels on my fire stick box thingy majiggy and came across baseball. I got bored after a few minutes and switched over to a different sport and had an excellent time watching it.

 

[bergs]

I was flicking through some American channels on my fire stick box thingy majiggy and came across baseball. I got bored after a few minutes and switched over to a different sport and had an excellent time watching it.

You don’t have to suck my balls but just stare at them for a while.

 

[rjdev7]

Mid 70’s, Gainesville, FL little league baseball. I played 2B, but batted late, like 8th or so. These were days when there was a coach, but just one (not like today when they’d be 3-4 coaches / Dad’s helping out the head coach). Also no parents came to practices or sometimes even to the games.

Except on my team, there was one dad who came to every practice, every game. Just sat in the stands, didn’t say a word. He had two boys on the team, Mike and Steve. They were the best players on the team, alternated btw pitching and SS.

They always came to the ball field in a Cadillac. It had a personalized FL license plate - 61IN61
I was like 12, so the significance didn’t really strike me at the time.

I remember seeing Mike and Steve on TV in 1998 on the night that Mark McGwire broke their Dad’s record for HR’s in a season. Of course he was taking PED’s, but anyway. As I coached both my boys years later I’ve always wondered what it was like for my lone LL coach to have Roger Maris watching you coach his kids at practice/games.

This is incredible.