Best Memories at the park
 

I like the best memories thread on the wax packs.

Since I will be heading to my last game of the year at PNC park today I was wondering what are your best memories at a ball game? Oh and if anyone would like to meet up before the game let me know just to get to know ya.

I have several but I will have to say this year going to the game with my 10 year old son. We got three balls and he got two autographs. He fell asleep that night clutching a ball in he hand. I was a priceless night for me.

Jon

Sept. 16th, 1984...
 

My favorite memory is the 1st game my Dad took me to on Sept. 16th, 1984 when I was 9 years old. It was at Tiger Stadium against the Blue Jays and the Tigers were only about a month away from winning the World Series. We sat in the upper deck on the 3rd base side and I remember being surprised how 'green' the grass was and how 'white' the Tigers uniforms were....the colors were very distinct to me. They won that day and I remember Chet Lemon hitting a home run that rose high in the sky before landing in the left field stands.....and I remember the 'wave' traveling in opposite directions in the upper and lower decks. That was a great time, thanks Dad!!

Matt

I told this story a few years back on the memorabilia side, but it's worth telling again.

Around 1965, my friend Steven and I went to Shea Stadium to see a Mets- Colts game, as he was a big Houston fan. Somehow we had seats in the front row behind first base. In those days, Nellie Fox was the first base coach for Houston.

As we bought food during the day Steven was putting his loose change in his top pocket. At one point he leaned forward too far and all the change fell onto the field, rolling in all directions. We both assumed it was lost.

But when the inning ended, Nellie Fox ran over to us, bent down, picked up every last coin a returned the change to my friend. I can still picture that moment when we got to interact with a future Hall of Famer. I don't recall Fox uttering a single word, but I'll always remember his kindness.

Edited to say I think they changed their name to the Astros by 1965.

My 1st Detroit Tigers game ever . . .
 

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. . . still stands out to me even today. Detroit was playing at home against Baltimore. We were located about 5 rows up in the left field bleachers. Eddie Murray had hit two home runs (one from each side of the plate) for Baltimore. But John Wockenfuss of the Tigers hit one of his infrequent home runs to carry the day for the Tigers. And the fact that his home run landed 12 feet or so from where we were seated only made it that much more dramatic. What a day.

Being that I grew up in MN I was / still am a huge Twins game. I remember going to game 163 when we played the tigers at home 3 years ago. We were down 4-0 and after coming back and pulling out the victory everyone went nuts and I completely lost my voice and being a PE teacher I couldn't yell at the kiddos the next day. It was amazing.

best memory ball game
 

My family was at Atlanta Fulton-County stadium in 1970 to see a doubleheader between the Braves and Padres. Outside the stadium we ran into Chief Noc-A-Homa who signed an autograph for my mom: "Yours in Spirit, Chief Noc-A-Homa". Still my most treasured autograph (Mom now deceased).

Saw homers from Mike Lum (3 in one game) and Hank Aaron. Pretty good memories even all these many years later.

Still very vivid in my mind. The first game I ever went to was in 1973 (I was 9years old) at Fenway Park. I was just amazed when I saw the field so green and perfect; I stood there in disbelief. Then during the game I remember the jeers such as "Yaz, you're a bum". I couldn't understand because he was my hero. I suppose some expected him to hit a homer at every at-bat. And also at that game is when Dwight Evans was beaned in the head. The crowd was dead quiet as he laid there. Wow, what a day to remember.

Forbes Field
 

Probably 1963 or 1964, I went with a couple friends to see the Pirates play. I cant tell you what the score was or who they played that day. After the game we waited for our Roberto to come out through the Press Gate. After some time, he came out wearing a suit! We walked with him for a block or two to an Atlantic gas station, where his car was parked. A pea-green Caddy. What a thrill and still a great memory.

Now that is cool!

Ted Williams Day at Shea(7-13-1999). I was given 4 tickets from someone who could not go.On the Red Sox dugout. Ted was driven by, waved at me and I took a great picture.I looked down at the camera."Why is it saying picture #45?" Camera out of film. I loaded it quickly. Still some nice pix of him on the mound with my favorite Met-Rusty Staub. In extra innings, the Sox third base coach hands a ball to my wife as I am updating my scorecard. No idea he did it. My wife turns to me and says"here, the guy over there just gave this to me." It was a Fenway Park All Star game/practice ball from the game just played there.

Very cool stories guys. I love em all. Nothing like a day at the park.

Went to Yankee stadium in 1998 with 2 friends. David Wells was pitching vs the Twins. After the second inning one of my friends said "hey, he's got a no hitter going". Me and my other friend looked at him like he's nuts and pointed out that it had been 2 innings.

Wells went on to pitch a perfect game that day. It's hard to beat that with the suspense mounting in every inning , then watching Paul O'neill catch the last out in Right...

First and only game I have been to was the Rockies in the world series, work flew me to Denver from Calgary and we took a client out. Amazing to see that many people and the size of the park compared to our little hockey arenas. Going to my first NFL game on Sunday, equally as excited.

That's an awesome story. David Wells was a great guy.

Os--wait 'til next year
 

Easy. Doubleheader, Friday 10-1-82, at Memorial Stadium. The Brewers come into town up by 3 with 4 games left in the season. 48,000 people on their feet all through both games, shaking brooms and screaming "Sweep! Sweep!" Wild Bill Hagy leading the cheers in section 34 (upper deck, right field). And yes, the beer is cold. The Os win both, of course, plus the Saturday game to tie it up, but Palmer gets shelled on Sunday 10-2, and the Os finish a game back.

That Ripken kid did okay, but the atmosphere is so much more memorable than any event from the games.

(Can you imagine a MLB team allowing fans to bring their own brooms to a game nowadays? No, the team would sell plastic triangles with a broom picture printed on along with the team name and the date.)

Bill

I brought my son to his first game with 3 of his friends at Fenway. I was filming the game with a crappy camcorder, but I turned to them in the 5th or 6th inning to ask if they were noticing that Buchholtz had not given up a hit yet. Yup, it was his no-hitter, not a bad first game for the kids. (and a damn good one for me as well).

Rawn

Similar experience, which I have related here before. In 68, I was getting a hot dog one night behind the first base stands at Forbes Field when I got into a conversation with 2 ladies who turned out to be Mrs Roberto Clemente and Mrs Manny Mota. As I was waiting for autographs after the game, Mrs. Clemente spotted me and told me to stay with her. After Roberto came out of the clubhouse, she spoke a few words to him, and he walked me over to his black El Dorodo, which pulled up to meet him. Roberto told me to wait there while he signed some autographs. After about 5-10 minutes, he came back, and we talked for another 5 to 10 minutes about baseball, the Spanish language, and a few other things I don't quite remember. Anyway, he was really great, and I will never forget it.

Childhood memories off the top of my head... living and watching ball in the bay area...

1972 Candlestick park...Giants vs Pirates...got to see Roberto Clemente play (his last time)...
1972 Oakland Colosseum I saw for the first time, Catfish Hunter pitch and along with Rudi, Jackson, Tenance etc...against the Rangers...start of that great run...that culminated in WS win vs Big Red Machine.
1975 Candlestick park...Dodgers vs Giants pre game...wanted to get some autographs on a ball... Don Sutton was smiling but trying to ignore us even though a bunch of us tykes were begging.... then a nice gentleman came up behind us and said..."hey Don be nice now...even though they're little Giants...I promise not to tell Lasorda if you sign a few for the kids..." and winked...Don laughed and came over to greet us and give us a sign..we turned around to thank the nice man...and it was Vin Scully!
1987 or 88 can't remember...cold nite again at Candlestick....but got to sit in the suite (courtesy of family friend whose company rented VIP booth)...and Will Clark smacked a foul ball into our laps!

Ricky

Wrigley...
 

Don't post much, but this one is close to my heart...

My best ballpark memory is 1989, Wrigley Field, 1st game of the NLCS. I grew up in Indianapolis a Cubs fan, had been to Wrigley dozens of times on Summer trips, but I had no hope of going to a playoff game. The day before the game my dad won tickets to the first game. I couldn't believe it, but he spent the whole day at work at his desk calling the radio station trying to be the tenth-or-whatever caller to get tix to the game. We drove up the next day and had seats on the lower level, pretty high up and on the 3rd base side, but it was amazing. Cubs got killed that game. F'ing Will Clark hit two home runs for the Giants, but Ryno hit one out, he was my hero, and I got to witness the first Night playoff game in Wrigley history and my dad and I got to share a rare hot dog and he let me sip his beer... Definitely the best...

History in the Bronx
 

As a Cardinals fan, it wasn't a good memory for me personally, but it was pretty neat to watch history. My brother, friend, and I made the trip down to Yankee Stadium from Syracuse for a weekend of Yankees vs. Cardinals games in 2003. They are both hard-core Yankee fans and I of course am I Cardinals fan.

It was a rainy day when we watched Roger Clemens wins his 300th game and record his 4,000 strikeout in the same game. He struck out Edgar Renteria for his 4,000 and Rivera came in for the save. The stadium was going nuts. I still have the ticket stub.

On a side note, it was the first game back in New York for Tino Martinez. The reception he received put shivers downs my spine.

Rockies play-in game against the Padres in 2007.

I started following the Rockies seriously in 2006, having moved to Colorado in 2004.

On the last Saturday of the 2007 regular season, the Padres were in Milwaukee with a two-game lead and one strike away from clinching the division. That’s when Tony Gwynn Jr. miraculously tripled to the right field corner off Trevor Hoffman to tie the game, which the Brew Crew eventually won in extra innings. Meanwhile, the Rox were man-handling the Dbacks to extend their win streak to 11 out of 12.

On Sunday, the Rox beat the Dbacks again to make it 12 of 13 and the Brewers crushed the Padres to deadlock the division. Nobody in the Rockies organization was apparently prepared for this and there had been no tickets offered for a play-in game that had seemed so improbable but was now a reality.

Five minutes after the Rox won to clinch the tie I went to the team website and, sure enough, they had just posted tickets for the play-in game that would take place the next day at Coors Field. I scored two tickets behind the Rockies dugout for $30 a piece. I was shocked and amazed at my good fortune.

I took my son to the game the next afternoon. Full house, beautiful day, stellar seats. Amazingly, Josh Fogg managed to work out of several jams and struggle to a 6-6 tie against Jake Peavy that sent the game into extras. After a few quality innings of relief by both teams, in the top of the thirteenth Clint Hurdle decided to play the “death card” and bring-in the cast-off Jorge Julio. Julio had been embarrassing himself on the mound for months and I told my son that Hurdle had just thrown the game. Sure enough, Julio proceeded to give-up two runs to the Paddogs without getting a single out. He left the mound to a deserved chorus of boos, but was relieved by Ramon Ortiz who retired Adrian Gonzalez, Kalil Greene and Morgan Ensberg in order to end the inning.

Then lightning struck. The Padres brought-in Hoffman to close. Kaz Matsui doubled to right center. Troy Tulowitzki followed with a double to right and Matt Holliday tripled off the right field scoreboard. All of a sudden it was 8-8 with nobody out. After Todd Helton was intentionally walked, journeyman Jamey Carroll hit a fly ball to right. Holliday chugged-in and with a head-first slide was called safe by Tim McClellan on a bang-bang play. 9-8 Rockies. Game over. The crowd goes wild.

I was at Yankee Stadium the day David Cone threw his perfect game. It was incredible. I'll never forget him dropping to his knees after the last out.

Another great game was the final game at old Yankee Stadium. Andy Pettite started against the Orioles. Rivera came in and got the last out. It was both a high and a low. My father had gone to that stadium with his father. My dad and I went to games my whole life there. It was hard to leave.

I was at that D-Header as well, with my cousins and uncle. I remember my uncle thinking he could buy tickets at the gate (this was the O's, after all, and Memorial Stadium wasn't known for sellouts) but coming up empty, then walking up a ramp and getting the attention of a grounds crew guy (or someone) and convincing him to find some tickets for us. Amazing. Free tickets (minus whatever he slipped the guy). I remember just being exhausted after it was over.

I love reading the Clemente memories. Imagine if that level of access existed today.

My broader memory of going to games is simply walking up the tunnel to get to the seating area. Nothing like a day game with sun shining on your face as you emerge from the dark concourse. Green manicured field laid out in front of you. Anticipation in the air. A great game was simply icing on that cake.

I have 2. In 1999 I was waiting by the Cubs parking lot trying to get Mark Grace to sign a ball. He left with a cute brunette so he didn't sign anything. Ron Santo walked out and got into his blazar and pulled out onto Waveland Ave. I waved to him holding my ball and he waved me over to him. What a great guy to talk to. Fans kept coming over and Ron kept signing until a cop came over and said "I'm sure Mr. Santo would love to stay here and sign for everybody but when the light turns green he's going to have to go because he's holding up traffic."

2nd game was when the Cubs retired his number. My dad called me up and asked if I knew what was happening that day, I told him yeah. He said "well get your ass in gear kid I have tickets see you in an hour!" Every time I see a clip from that day it reminds me of what a great time I had being there. I really miss that man :(

As someone who worked in the front office for a major league team I had many unique opportunities to create amazing memories at the ballpark but one general memory stands out over and above the rest.

My Dad and Mom would always take me and my brother and sister to Cubs games even though I knew they couldnt afford it. They knew, being a baseball fanatic, that going to a game meant the world to me when I was young. As I became a teenager Dad and I would be the ones to go and hang out for the day as we debated the next phenom and if that player would ever amount to anything. Dad always made sure I had a hot dog and a coke as well as something from the souvenir stand. Fast forward 10 years and I got a job working for the Cubs and had the opportunity to take Dad to as many games as he wanted. He would sit in the seats I got him with his scorecard and sandwiches he packed for an afternoon of baseball. He was content just sitting there, watching baseball while I worked but I would always check in on him to see how he was doing. It was now my turn to make sure my Dad had his scorecard and a coke to drink. It felt so good to be able to give back to my dad after all the years of baseball games he gave me. I remember looking up in the stands and seeing the look of contentment and happiness on his face which was all I could ever ask for.

One other memory is that my sister, who was confined to a wheelchair because of a diving accident, was able to roll out onto Wrigley Field and roll around the bases as well as the outfield. This of course was a day when there was no game being played but to her, that was the greatest thing she could have ever done as she never missed a Cubs game on WGN during the summer. Running the bases is many Cubs fan's dream but "rolling" the bases for my sister provided the same thrill!

The first game I ever went to. 1966. I was turning 5 and my dad took me to Dodger stadium for my birthday. Just me and him. Sandy Koufax pitched and won something like 7-0. Koufax was my hero and I was hooked. It is, to this day, one of my happiest memories ever.

Two games stand out for me. First one was in 1970 when I saw my first game with my dad at Fenway Yaz dropped a bomb and Tony C was majestic. I was hooked at age 7. The second was 25 years later watching Game 5 of the ALDS at the Kingdome with my dad and wife. I sat near the bullpen and will never forget the roar of the crowd when the Big Unit strolled from the pen to enter the game as Welcome to the Jungle blared. Watching Junior race home following Edgar's double was a thrill. My wife cried and we hugged total strangers in absolute joy. It still gives me a lump in my throat thinking about it. The Santo and Clemente stories are outstanding. I met Santo in the early 90's at spring taining and he signed this photo for me. He inscribed it Welcome to Waveland Ave! He was a true gentleman. Both he and Edgar belong in Cooperstown for what they did on the field and what they meant to their communities. I miss Edgar he was the epitome of class.