Ok sports fans, I have been very fortunate throughtout the years to have attended some unbelievable athletic events. It still does not satisy my craving to do more. From Denny's 30th win, the 71 All Star Game at Tiger Stadium, the World Series in 84, and that is just the beginning. It would be a lot of fun to put together your Bucket List of your favorite baseball live events that you attended, and what you are looking forward to doing before we meet Sparky again for that final pitching change. Write them down and send them in. I will bet that they are all different.
Good luck and I can't wait to see yours.
A discussion of the Detroit Tigers past, present and future.
Le Grand Orange
Best DH Season for a Bengal
Guillermo is Tops in Our Opinion!
Willie Hernandez posted the best relief season in the history of the Tigers.
The Best Season in Left?
The Rock, no doubt
Ty Cobb
Clearly, we picked Cobb as having the best year in center
Kaline narrowly wins our poll
for best season in right.
George Kell, 1949
The best Tiger season at third
It's Unanimous, Tram had the Best Season at Short
By Acclaim!
Who had the best season at first?
Hammerin' Hank Greenberg, that's who
My Kind of Town
Toledo is our favorite minor league stadium
Old Yankee Stadium - Our Favorite
Winning our poll for favorite non-functioning ball park-Yankee Stadium
Wrigley Field: Our favorite (non-Detroit) operating MLB park
By narrow vote over Fenway, it's Wrigley Field
Sparky Anderson - The Greatest Skipper
With the election of Spark, we complete our little Hot Stove project of selecting the Greatest Tiger Team. This was fun.
Who Was the Greatest Tiger Reliever, DH/PH
We resoundingly agree that Willie Hernandez was the best reliever, but we tied on Rusty Staub or Daryl Evans for DH or pinch hitter
Kaline is the Unanimous Rightfielder
In our second consecutive unanimous vote, Al Kaline, is chosen as the Greatest Tiger Rightfielder!
Cobb is Unanimous!
Nobody liked him, but we agree he was the best in center
Willie is Our man in Left!
Willie Horton is our choice for the greatest Tiger in left field
Good Ol' George Kell, the Best Tiger at the Hot Corner
At least by our vote, he's been elected. (BTW, thanks to Tom Haggerty for the write up on all the third basemen.)
Tram Stands Tall at Short
Tiger's Super Second Sacker - Gehringer in a Lanslide!
Once again, I was overwhelmingly out-voted, Charlie Gehringer wins.
Heaven's First Baseman
Hank Greenberg, elected as the Greatest Tiger firstbaseman in History
Our Tiger Hall of Fame
Bill Freehan, catcher
my list is a short one. but, a list nonetheless. live events, if you call it that, are as follows. i once was literally walking around busch stadium on a wed. afternoon. i had the fortue to walk right into willie mays. he was all alone, just got out of a cab. we spoke, a gentleman without question, at the twilight of his career. he was with the mets, they were playing the cards that night. i recall the fans getting on him in center during that game. i actually felt very sorry for such a great player, especially after meeting him that day. what a class act.
ReplyDeletei recall attending what is known as the bartman game at wrigley, with my three sons. the guy interferes on the foul down the left field line, alou goes crazy hollaring at him, the next play, a tailor made double play ball as ernie would describe it goes thru the gates of ramirez at short which would of course ended the innning and the threat, and the rest is as they say, history. i swear, an aura came over wrigley at that moment. like nothing i had ever experienced before in my life. its as if it was meant to happen. the choke. the curse? who knows. but i was there. and felt it and witnessed it first hand. incredible.
other than that, going to a ton down at michigan and trumbull, with my own great memories of kaline hanging on the fence in right to pull one down, the bird doing his thing, denny, mickey, freehan, the gater, tram to whitaker for yet another dp, ron leflore taking off from first, billy martin caling a suicide squeeze, the smell of those hot dogs and the incredibly green grass even on opening day, my bucket list of hi lited games is a short one. if, and i am crossing the sporting line here i know, if the lions ever ever get to the dance, at any price, i will be there. put it on the board an definitely on my list.
I was fortunate enough to be thre in '68 the night the Tigers clinched the pennant. I ran out on the field to celebrate. I took one of the chair covers and filled it with dirt from the first base area to give it to Ron Victor who loved Norm Cash. However I was forced to give it up or I would be arrested for stealing.
ReplyDeleteMy wife and I were present in '84 the night we finished off the Padres in the World Series. We had parked on the southside of the stadium at St. Boniface, and had no clue the amount of unrest that was taking place on the other side of the stadium, disgracing Detoit.
My wife and I were also present at the only World Series game the Tigers won against St. Louis in 2006. It was the game in which Kenny Rodgers was guilty of Doctoring up the ball. In the stands we had no clue of what was going on, had to call friends at home to find out what was going on.
Those are the three momst memorable games.
However, basbeall is being with friends and family. I can remember my first game in 1958 with my dad, I can remeber another game with my dad, with him rolling around on the around fighting for a foul ball. I can remember Ernie's farewell speech, I can remember many Opening Days with the guys from the seminary, buying bleacher seats for $1.00. I can remember Herbie the groundskeeper giving my son a baseball - and my son throwing it back because he thought Herbie wanted to play catch. I can remember Willie Hernandez giving my daughter a baseball and then she gave it back for him to autograph. And I have been fortunate in the last few years to visit 9 other parks and to enjoy baseball in all of them.
Going to a game is living and loving life and Spring Training is right around the corner.
Highlights for me include:
ReplyDelete* Seeing Denny McLain win his 30th game. (Tiger Stadium vs. Oakland. Sept. 14, 1968.)
* Going to the third game of the '68 World Series with my sister and sitting in teh lower deck bleachers behind the flagpole in CF. Earl Wilson started and the Tigers lost.)
Other than those two highlights I have too many memories to count. I have seen games in more than 50 major and minor league ballparks, and each one has something special.
ReplyDeleteGreat question, Bill, and great posts fellas.
ReplyDeleteI haven't been to as many ball parks as Tom, or as many series games as you guys. I did see Denny's 30th win. Getting to meet Ernie and chat with him was cool.
Went to the play off game against Oakland in '72 was it? Agreed with Marty Budner to meet "At the corner." When I got there, the corner was jammed, wall to wall people. We're never going to find each other. I hear a voice from on high. "Gregg, up here!" Marty was standing on a newspaper box, holding on to a light pole.
Another fond memory is taking my 3 daughters to Tiger Stadium one last time before it closed. As I came close to tears, one of them figuratively smacks me in the face with, "Dad, you didn't take it this bad when Grandma died!"
She had a point there, and drove home to me that ol' Tiger Stadium wasn't just the steel, bricks, dirt and sod, but it was the memories made there.
I've also been lucky enough to take my grand daughter to her first major league game, and hope to take my new grandson soon. (never too young)
But IMHO, "Bucket lists" aren't about what you've done, but what you would like to do before you "Kick the Bucket."
And to that end, my Bucket List:
- The aforementioned trip to a game with Grandson Ethan.
- Catch a ball, hopefully at a major league game, hopefully when it was in play, not tossed from a ball girl or something lame, and hopefully I won't embarrass myself by beating up a little kid to get it. In my greatest dream (and isn't that what we're talking about here?) it would be at that game with my grandson. (I'm tearing up, guys.)
-See the Tigers beat the Rangers in a ALCS game at the ball park in Arlington
-Even less likely (but a man can still dream) would be to see the Tigers beat the Yankees in the ALCS (I was in Australia the last time they did it.)
-Fantasy Leagues, like Bill did are really cool, but I'd just embarass myself. I think it would be cool to play sports reporter for a week, go on a road trip with the Tigers. (another dream that just ain't gonna happen.)
I don't remember specific games as much as you guys do, but I do remember the events surround the games. I remember taking the bus to the ballpark with Gregg, loaded up with sandwiches that my mother used to make, hustling for the general unreserved seats in order to get the best view and keeping score. I do remember a few games, however. Like most, I remember Denny's 30th, but I also remember watching his return from suspension (in 71?). I do remember watching Northrup hit two slams in one game, and, unfortunately, watching Gibson strike out too many batters to count during the series (seventeen, I think). I also remember Jon Hiller striking our the first six batters when he was a starter. I do have one memory of a game at Fenway in the early 80s. One of my dorm mates from MSU made the Tiger roster. The Tigs were in town and I was talking to him in the bullpen during the game until he told me that Sparky would get pissed if he saw us talking. I also remember running into Artis Gilmore on Rush Steet. (One ugly dude, but also another sport.)
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