Who loves Baseball???

[kevin]

Or maybe the better question is..."Who doesn't love baseball?"(okay..don't respond to that one). For those who do...I'd love to hear one of your all time "personal" favorite baseball moments/stories:

The year was 1990 and I was in the 5th grade. The Giants were coming off of a pennant winning season, but that didn't matter to me much, being a local Northern Californian I never heard the end of it from my friends that were A's fans. But none the less Baseball season was under way and as always Grandma Helen had a set of opening weekend tickets for us. G-ma would come by early in the morning on game day....with a fanny pack full of endless items...sun flower seeds....sun screen....camera....mini-binoculars....sunglasses that go over the top of her regular glasses...wadded up cash.....but most importantly 2 shinny tickets in hand!! We would always show up early enough to see the Giants take batting practice, which usually meant going in the park 2 hours prior to the game. This day however.....would end up being a bit more special. As I wandered up towards the home dugout to get a closer look at batting practice I noticed who happened to be signing autographs for the 2 kids who were standing at the railing. Will Clark!!!!!!! Many may not know that Will, not Barry, is my all time favorite player. So i nervously approached......and asked Mr. Clark for his autograph. He smiled took my ball....signed it and handed it back. I don't remember exactly what he said but i remember what i said......"Hey Will...it was a Thrill meeting" He chuckled a bit, and I thought I was clever as it was his nickname, but I'm sure he got it all the time....I'm not sure how much from a 5th grader though. Colin??


So...whats your guys favorite baseball story?





WS Prediction:

I'll go with Brewers/Indians

[TNT]

Hey Kevin,

Great story!! Yeah, I don't really have an interesting B-ball story, but yeah, growing up here too, I was an A's fan (and I loved the Charley Finley days!!)

Everyone on the A's had a "mustache" back then - it was a real cool period for baseball. Seems like everytime I went to a game I always caught a Joe Rudi foul!

Except, I never really could find a way to sneek my guitar in to practice.

[Jason5150]

Wow! I haven't seen green grass for a long time! Want to ship some down this way?

[Dr Stankface]

Well, i'm not a baseball nut or anything but I do love the Yankees.


(And i'm going to be living in Atlanta soon. I wonder how well that will go over. )

[EBMM7181]

I am an Atlanta Braves fan. I have 2 all time favorite stories I can think of. The first, of course the 1995 World Series win over the Indians, and the second, the playoff game against the Pirates, when Sid Bream was safe at the plate, I can still hear it now..... BRAVES WIN, BRAVES WIN, BRAVES WIN

Good times.

[muggsy]

I love the game of baseball, but my love for the MLB version died after the strike in 94 and never really came back. I was a hard-core Phillies fan as a kid, and I memorized stats and collected baseball cards (which I still have, since I stupidly failed to sell them when the market peaked a few years back). I still follow the Phils, and I'm sure I'll go to a game or two this year in DC to check out the new Nationals park, but between PEDs and the arrogance and stupidity of both sides in the labor wars (not to mention the incredibly ineffectual Bud Selig), it's hard for me to get too worked up.

My favorite baseball memory was actually from when I was living in Atlanta in the early 90's, the year the Braves and Twins went from worst to first and met in the WS. That was before the Braves fans got spoiled. There was such a buzz around that team, and a sense of genuine excitement when they made the WS. I was in a packed sports bar for Game 7, which featured an amazing pitchers' duel between Jack Morris and John Smoltz that was scoreless after nine innings. The Twins won it in the 10th and Morris went the distance in one of the all-time clutch pitching performances. That was the most nerve-wracking baseball game I've ever seen.

My least favorite baseball memory can be summed up with two names: Joe Carter and Mitch Williams.

[Spudmurphy]

I like the game too and have been to a couple of St Louis games when I have visited family over there. Me, my cousin's wife and their week old baby went to a game. I got to take him b4 his Dad- a great honour for me.

We play baseball in Wales albeit a bit different to your game - but there are a lot of similarities.
I used to play backstop or catcher as you call it.

[GoKart_MoZart]

I love baseball. Been a Giants fan since the mid-60's.

Lots of memories from the field, but my favorite baseball moment was I met Willie McCovey at a sports bar/grill. He was very nice to me and my family (he approached us -- I would never have bothered him), and even bought my oldest son a cap and autographed it for him (it was delivered to our table).

I didn't dare tell him that he was my second favorite player when I was a kid...

[glockaxis]

Muggsy, same here. I was a big fan then the strike let all the wind out of my sails too. Just this year have I started to get back into baseball and my favorite team, the Angels.

Favorite memory was attending Angels sring training in Palm Springs where I got to see Reggie Jackson (All-time favorite player) up close. Another favorite was attending the game when Rod Carew hit number 3,000.

[KpBasser]

Gotta admit I love the game but I was disillusioned by the strike too and I resigned as a fan when A-Rod signed for 250million a minute. My favorite memory was going to the second to the last game Nolan Ryan pitched. He got blown out in his last start so we saw the final 5 strike outs of his career. The ovation he got when he walked in from the bulpen was so emotional I'll never forget it. He was such a class act.

[JimB52]

I was living in NYC the last time the Mets won the World Series. Starting with the epic Astros playoff series, The feeling grew in the city until it was unbelievable. Even my girlfriend at the time, who was a professor who ran a tony art gallery in the Village knew who Mookie Wilson was. Watching that weak hit up the first base line dribble between Buckner's legs was priceless.

On the down side, my cousins from Boston used to make me listen to "The Impossible Dream:
the Story of the 1967 Red Sox" Album every time I visited them.
Jim B