I Am The Biggest Fan In Blogville!

I doubt very much if there is a bigger baseball fan in all the blogging community. First of all I have been a fan longer than most of the writers here have been alive. I played in my first organized league in 1954, as 6 year old. But I had been playing in the yard and on the sand lot for a long time prior to that team. And my dad would play catch with me almost every day it was not raining.

I think that fact alone is a big reason I loved it. It is the place I got my dad’s full attention and where I could get his praise. The day after I saw “Field of Dreams”, I drove an hour and a half to see my dad and play catch again. I still have two gloves and a baseball in the trunk of my car, just in case my grandson wants to play catch with me.

My first visit to a Major League game was the next year. We were on vacation and my dad took me to Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. We saw the Phillies against the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robin Roberts was the Phillies’ pitcher, Clem Labine pitched for the Dodgers. Roberts only gave up one run that night, a homer to Roy Campenella. What a thrill. I had a box score from the paper of that game (a reprint I got from the Hall of Fame archives). I put it in a frame, surrounded by 1954 baseball cards of the players from that game, and presented it to my grandson on his 12th birthday. It is quite valuable for the cards alone, but there is a lot more to its significance to me.

As a boy we went to see the Cardinals farm team in Houston, the Buffs, before the creation of the Houston Major League team. I saw a doubleheader between the Colt 45s on July 4th in Pete Rose’s rookie year. I saw Sandy Koufax pitch in the Astrodome, 8th Wonder of the World. I have seen all three All Star Games that have been played in Houston, as well as the Home Run Derbys that preceded them. I was at the 16 inning game that concluded the 1986 playoff run for the Astros. I saw Jeff Kent hit the homer that won game 5 of the 2004 LCS against the Cardinals, in person. And last fall I got to see the first ever World Series game played in the state of Texas. All but 2 of my first 39 wedding anniversaries have been spent with my bride at the opening game of the Astros’ season. The 25th was spent on a cruise to the Bahamas and the 35th was spent watching Beauty and the Beast on Broadway.

I have been to see games in most of the cities that have major league games and a few in minor league cities. I have been to Yankee Stadium, and sat in seats provided by Andy Pettitte, via his brother. I have been to The Hall of Fame three times, though it is more than 2000 miles from my home. I was there last to see Nolan Ryan be inducted. It was a great celebration.

Several years ago I became convinced that they were actually going to put lights up in Wrigley Field in Chicago. I had not been there, and I was very eager to see it before the lights were put up. I began to make plans to go, but I had trouble finding anyone who could go. Undaunted, I decided to go alone. I could not afford to fly in those days, so I drove.

The first day I went as far as St. Louis. I watched a game in Busch Stadium that night. The next day I drove on to Chicago. I saw a game in Comiskey Park that night. The next day I saw Wrigley in all its charm, as it had been for a long time. Dwight Gooden was pitching for the Mets, he had a great day, and so did I. When the game was over, I got in my car and drove straight through to Houston, 24 hours.

Now do you have any doubt I am the biggest baseball fan in blogville?