Viejo Dinosaur
EOG Master
My grandfather took me to Yankee Stadium to see a Yankee/Minnesota Twin game in 1958....
Your very first Professional Athletic Game you attended...
- Thread starter Viejo Dinosaur
- Start date
Cubs game at Wrigley Field in the early 1970's.
Still recall the sunshine, green grass and Ivy-covered outfield walls when Dad and I walked up the stairs from the bowels of the dark, crowded concourse.
Guys like Don Kessinger and Glenn Beckert were playing catch near the dugout prior to the game.
Also witnessed an AWA wrestling card and the Harlem Globetrotters around the same time, but VD asked for a "professional athletic game," not a staged exhibition with a pre-determined outcome.
Still recall the sunshine, green grass and Ivy-covered outfield walls when Dad and I walked up the stairs from the bowels of the dark, crowded concourse.
Guys like Don Kessinger and Glenn Beckert were playing catch near the dugout prior to the game.
Also witnessed an AWA wrestling card and the Harlem Globetrotters around the same time, but VD asked for a "professional athletic game," not a staged exhibition with a pre-determined outcome.
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I first visited Soldier Field on September 1, 1972.
Not for a Bears game but an AWA wrestling extravaganza.
Dad splurged for the best seats in the house at $50 a ticket.
Rest his soul.
Not for a Bears game but an AWA wrestling extravaganza.
Dad splurged for the best seats in the house at $50 a ticket.
Rest his soul.
Viejo Dinosaur
EOG Master
My Father took me to Connie Mack Stadium to see a Philly/Giant game the year after the Giants moved to San Francisco....my Dad was a huge Giant fan when they were in New York....think the year was 1959...got to see the greatest baseball player that ever lived, the great Willie Mays....
WildBill
2
I had to look up the date but I believe it was a Sep 1978 game when the CALIFORNIA Angels beat the Royals 4-3 in a pennant race game. I remember it was the Royals and it was a close win, the Big A was full and rocking. I was 6 then so didn't really understand what was going on, but loved shouting "Yes We Can" with the crowd and I remember dad bought me ice cream in a small Angels helmet. My dad didn't like going to the games much but because I liked to go see hockey games he took me to quite a few even at the Fabulous Forum though he admitted he never watched a single game until I started watching them.
Moms get all the love but Dads can be great, too.
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
Cosby has a classic bit in one of his standups about that.
Carlos ManSTEALya (Ned Arnel) later did his own version of the joke in one of his specials.
Don Quixote
EOG Enthusiast
Hazy memory, but what I remember was we were sit'n above 3rd base 'bout 50 seats up at a Giants~dodgers game at the Stick in the late 60s...
Mays hits a ball to right field for a triple and scores that inning. Final score was 1~0. I want to say Mays stole home for the winning run, but not sure.
My Father was a Varsity Baseball Coach/JV Football/Biology teacher & Announcer for a big high school down south~east of Fresno.
He ran all the Hot Stove get~togethers in Fresno so I tagged along and saw a lot of Giants in the late 60s and 70s.
McCovey was and is my favorite Giant [I got a lot of favorites...The Say~Hey Kid,Marichal, Cepeda, Felipe Alou, Perry, Jimmy Ray Hart, Vida Blue, Bobby Bonds, BARRY BONDS ,Tito Fuentes "Moon~Man" Minton, Chili~Dog~Davis, Jack the Ripper, The Hit Man, Uribe, Nen, Dravecky, Beck, Williams, Brenly, Speier, Mitchell, Buster, Timmy, The Kung Fu Panda, Bum, Cain, Kuiper, Krukow, Rueter, Vizquel, Kingman, Estes, Thompson, Righette, Snow, Casilla, Johnny "The Wad" Lamaster, Romo, Wilson, Kent, Will The Thrill, Crawdaddy, ect...(I got on a roll)]...
Mays hits a ball to right field for a triple and scores that inning. Final score was 1~0. I want to say Mays stole home for the winning run, but not sure.
My Father was a Varsity Baseball Coach/JV Football/Biology teacher & Announcer for a big high school down south~east of Fresno.
He ran all the Hot Stove get~togethers in Fresno so I tagged along and saw a lot of Giants in the late 60s and 70s.
McCovey was and is my favorite Giant [I got a lot of favorites...The Say~Hey Kid,Marichal, Cepeda, Felipe Alou, Perry, Jimmy Ray Hart, Vida Blue, Bobby Bonds, BARRY BONDS ,Tito Fuentes "Moon~Man" Minton, Chili~Dog~Davis, Jack the Ripper, The Hit Man, Uribe, Nen, Dravecky, Beck, Williams, Brenly, Speier, Mitchell, Buster, Timmy, The Kung Fu Panda, Bum, Cain, Kuiper, Krukow, Rueter, Vizquel, Kingman, Estes, Thompson, Righette, Snow, Casilla, Johnny "The Wad" Lamaster, Romo, Wilson, Kent, Will The Thrill, Crawdaddy, ect...(I got on a roll)]...
Don Quixote
EOG Enthusiast
Last time Mays stole home plate was in 1960, so...
Don Eagleston
EOG Addicted
My first game was a 6-1 loser to the Giants at Connie Mack on July 2, 1955. Sal "the Barber" Maglie bested Curt Simmons. Sid Gordon and Willie Mays homered for the New Yorkers.
My favorite game occurred August 19, 1955, when Robin Roberts defeated Brooklyn's Don Newcombe, 3-2, before a sellout crowd. The Fightin's scored 1 in the 8th and two walkoff runs in the 9th to erase a 2-0 deficit. Robbie improved to 20-9, while CY Young winner and NL MVP Newcombe dropped to 18-4.
My favorite game occurred August 19, 1955, when Robin Roberts defeated Brooklyn's Don Newcombe, 3-2, before a sellout crowd. The Fightin's scored 1 in the 8th and two walkoff runs in the 9th to erase a 2-0 deficit. Robbie improved to 20-9, while CY Young winner and NL MVP Newcombe dropped to 18-4.
winkyduck
TYVM Morgan William!!!
Ditto
We lived in IL in the early 70s, too. I recall going to a Cubs game around age 7-8. It would have ben a day game. No idea who the opponent was but that seems to be what stands out to me
Last game I attended: November 2019 the Kings hosted the Coyotes in a 1P game around the weekend before T-giving. It was "Hockey Fights Cancer" day and I broke down several times when they honored all who beat Cancer and had us stand up so we could get an ovation from all there. Then the Kings pissed away the game losing 3-2 in a game they shoulda won 7-3.
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
1969 Phils/Cubs at WF. We used to go to the doubleheaders.
choslamshe
EOG Master
Saskatchewan Roughriders vs Edmonton Eskimos.
God damn I miss the CFL haha
God damn I miss the CFL haha
choslamshe
EOG Master
Oh wait, you said professional...
December 12, 1971 - In what would become the start of a new tradition, mom's "graciously" giving up their seats for the season ending game at Lambeau Field. Bundled up like Randy from A Christmas Story, the 4 dad's took their 4 sons between the ages of 5-7 to the hallowed grounds. A balmy 28 degrees with a wind chill hovering near zero, we huddled around the weber grill watching our fathers with pride as they tailgated like hardy northerners drinking Old Style and eating brats. "Dad, why are you putting the bbq under the car?" I asked "So the engine doesn't freeze up after the game." Brilliant. The hated 6-6 Chicago Bears came to town to face the Scotty Hunter and 3-7-2 Packers. The Packers open with a long strike to Carroll Dale. Packers up big late and onto the field comes #15, Bart Starr. He gets a completion and a 1 yard td run in what would be his last game as a Packer at Lambeau. Packers win 31-10.
Viejo Dinosaur
EOG Master
Was living in Laguna Hills during that time and finishing up my five years of Marine Corps service...went to many Angel games during that time....Reggie Jackson, Nolan Ryan, Bobby Grich, Dan Ford, and Brian Downing just a few of the stars back then...Did your Dad tell you about Lyman Bostock back then?
Doubleheaders were a treat.
Two for the price of one.
Like a coupled entry at the racetrack.
I once read that 25% of the games played by Ernie Banks involved doubleheader games.
Does that sound right?
Banks' career spanned from 1953-1971.
Viejo Dinosaur
EOG Master
Baseball used to have doubleheaders every Sunday during the season...was a treat when I was a kid...Every team played doubleheaders on Sunday....Jim Bunning threw a perfect game on a Sunday...
Almost Allright
GO Bucks!!!
Monday August 14 1978 Reds at Pirates. Would have been game 57 in the Pete Rose hit streak if he would have kept it going.
Wrigley Field, September 20th, 1982. I was 7. I'll never forget it.
Pirates/Cubs. Larry McWilliams vs. Dickie Noles. 3-1 Cubs win. Dull game overall.
Cubs dreadful that season. First really cold. windy day of the fall and maybe 5,000 actual bodies in seats.
Time of the game: 2 hours and 14 minutes.
I'll never forget it because I came home that day with TWO baseballs. Our seats were no more than 8-9 rows directly behind the first base dugout. The first ball came courtesy of now-Blue Jays color analyst Pat Tabler, who popped one directly off the top of the dugout and right into my hands. (I literally didn't have to move.)
The second came toward the end of the game. An older man popped out of the Pirates dugout, looked right at me and beckoned me down to the front row, where he gave me a ball signed by then-Pirates manager Chuck Tanner.
Fast-forward to the late 90's; I dated a girl who lived in the Pittsburgh area and I had occasion to meet Mr. Tanner at a work function of hers. I told him that story and he said while he obviously didn't remember that particular game, he was 100% sure that he was the one who gave me that baseball. Said he made it a point to give one signed baseball to a kid either before or during every game he managed.
Never, ever would something like that happen these days. Makes me miss what used to be...
EDIT: This thread got me thinking and I looked some stuff up on baseball reference just to see how much times have changed...
The Cubs played a total of THREE nine-inning games that entire season that lasted more than 3 hours.
Pirates/Cubs. Larry McWilliams vs. Dickie Noles. 3-1 Cubs win. Dull game overall.
Cubs dreadful that season. First really cold. windy day of the fall and maybe 5,000 actual bodies in seats.
Time of the game: 2 hours and 14 minutes.
I'll never forget it because I came home that day with TWO baseballs. Our seats were no more than 8-9 rows directly behind the first base dugout. The first ball came courtesy of now-Blue Jays color analyst Pat Tabler, who popped one directly off the top of the dugout and right into my hands. (I literally didn't have to move.)
The second came toward the end of the game. An older man popped out of the Pirates dugout, looked right at me and beckoned me down to the front row, where he gave me a ball signed by then-Pirates manager Chuck Tanner.
Fast-forward to the late 90's; I dated a girl who lived in the Pittsburgh area and I had occasion to meet Mr. Tanner at a work function of hers. I told him that story and he said while he obviously didn't remember that particular game, he was 100% sure that he was the one who gave me that baseball. Said he made it a point to give one signed baseball to a kid either before or during every game he managed.
Never, ever would something like that happen these days. Makes me miss what used to be...
EDIT: This thread got me thinking and I looked some stuff up on baseball reference just to see how much times have changed...
The Cubs played a total of THREE nine-inning games that entire season that lasted more than 3 hours.
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WildBill
2
My uncle told me about him and how he got shot. I remember all those guys, but my favorite was Frank Tanana. I used to pretend to be him throwing lefty even though I was right handed. That guy never came out of games, never got tired because he was like tossing out whiffle balls out there.
My father's thing was he only root for the Angels and later the Ducks. He didn't like any LA teams, we were from Orange County, not LA. Only team I liked in LA were the Kings until the day they traded for Gretzky. Cut them off that day. Never was a fan of Rams, Raiders, Lakers, Dodgers, etc.
Viejo Dinosaur
EOG Master
When I got out of the Marine Corps in 1978, I took a job delivering beer for Straub Distributing in Orange County...They were the Budweiser distributors at the time...I had Anaheim Stadium on my route and delivered 120 kegs to the Stadium during the Angel home stands...I hooked up the kegs all over the stadium...I had many perks with the Angel brass back then....good times....
winkyduck
TYVM Morgan William!!!
As someone who has lived in OC for many decades and went to Fullerton I am very familiar with the Straub people and how generous they were to Fullerton athletics
Lymon Bostock was sooooooooo sad. Wrong place - wrong time. He just signed with the Angels that season. His April was so bad he wanted to give back to Gene Autry his April salary (LOL at that being done today). Autry would not take it so Bostock donated it to charity. I recall the news and how sad it was. Tanana used to be a fireballer but arms issues turned him 180-degrees into a "crafty lefty" (code word for someone who couldn't break a pane of glass with his "fastball" so he has to rely on slow sleeping curveballs to get people out).
Lyman Bostock, a very good ball player. One of the first big money free agents. He made $20,000 with the twins in 1977. Then signed with the Angels for 2.3 million for six years. Talk about an increase in pay. As others said, as tragic an ending to his life as it gets. A very bad luck circumstance.
Lyman gets shot to death at the end of the 78 season as he is riding in a car with a women he had just met through his uncle. The women's husband saw his wife in the backseat of a car with this man (Bostock) and assumed she was cheating on him and rolled up at a stop and shot in the backseat trying to shoot the wife. Bostock gets killed the wife is OK. Brutal.
Lyman gets shot to death at the end of the 78 season as he is riding in a car with a women he had just met through his uncle. The women's husband saw his wife in the backseat of a car with this man (Bostock) and assumed she was cheating on him and rolled up at a stop and shot in the backseat trying to shoot the wife. Bostock gets killed the wife is OK. Brutal.
You had to be in good shape back then delivering kegs. Those were the big kegs in those days. Didn't those kegs weigh about hundred pounds back then?
Had friends that did Schiltz in the late 70's. Low seniority guys got stuck on kegs because the cases (cans) were easier and you made more money. You got a commission on the cases.
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
I remember the day it happened. Gary is a rough city.
Gary was a violent city then and very violent now.
If you remember when the casino boats first came to Indiana, Trump put a casino boat in Gary but his people said it was located in Buffington Harbor. Ha Ha! Friends would tell me they were going to the boat in Gary and i always corrected them and said no, it is Buffington Harbor and then LOL.
His killer served seven months in a psychiatric hospital and was released.
FairWarning
Bells Beer Connoisseur
That was the original Trump Casino I believe. One of his better ideas was to have Gary remove a lot of the traffic lights on Broadway Ave (?) leading to the casino.
I think that casino license is the new Hard Rock Casino, opening soon on I-94 by 65.
WildBill
2
He owned one of those two boats in Gary, his competitor Don Barden eventually bought him out. Typical Trump fashion he acted like competition didn't matter, the masses would flock to his boat and drive past the others. Didn't really work out that way. Buffington Harbor makes more sense as a port facility so they are moving the boats out for that. The licenses for one of the boats is going to be used for the new Gary casino whenever they are allowed to open it, they have a major mess on their hands with their ownership. The other is going to be used for the new casino in Terre Haute.
Funny logic they use in the gambling world, none other than Mike Pence started this concept of we are not going to expand gambling in Indiana. Taking two poorly attended casino boats out of service and then opening up two brand new land based casinos in different locations isn't an expansion of gambling to Indiana politicians.
Crazy Pete
EOG Addicted
Mine is very similiar to Viejo: Yankee Stadium 1961 vs the Twins.
However, the Minnesota Twins didn’t exist in 1958. Maybe it was Yankees vs Washington Senators?
“The Senators moved and were replaced with an expansion Senators team for 1961. The old Washington Senators became the new Minnesota Twins; the expansion Senators would become the Texas Rangers in 1972, and baseball would not return to the city until 2005, when the former Montreal Expos became the Washington Nationals.”
justintalk
EOG Veteran
When I was a kid the greatest day of the year was bat day at yankee stadium.My uncle worked for a company that had season tickets and he would hand me the schedule and say pick 3 games.Bat day was always number 1.This was late 60's when yanks were last place team and micky was end of career.I had tom tresh and steve whitaker bats with which I crushed infield singles in little league.Old yankee stadium had the monuments in center field and you would always see inside the park home runs as balls would rattle around the monuments.
winkyduck
TYVM Morgan William!!!
Back then they gave you the bat as you entered. He is one of those days. Imagine if they did this now!
