My earliest childhood baseball memory involves Joaquin Andujar.
The date was April 8, 1982 and the Cardinals were playing the Astros. This is the first game I remember as a child watching from start to finish, before that I only had a casual interest in the game. The match up was Andujar V. Houston's Bob Knepper. The game turned out to be a pitchers duel and even though my soon to be beloved Cardinals came out on the losing end of a 1-0 game I was hooked!
There were many great things that caught my attention including our newly acquired shortstop Ozzie Smith & Bruce Sutter coming in late in the game to try to keep the game close, but one thing that stood out to me was Andujar and his very animated personality/antics on the mound. Joaquin pitched a great game in a losing cause that day going 7.2 innings with 6k's, 1 BB & limited the Astros to 1 unearned run. I fondly recall watching this game on a 13" black and white tv our family had in the basement (which also had our Atari 2600 attached!! Mom was afraid the videogames would ruin our nice fancy color tv!!)
After this I was hooked on the Cardinals & baseball in general. What a fun team to watch and a magical season that ended with the Cards winning it all! This was also the year I purchased my first pack of baseball cards. I remember being upset that I finally got an Ozzie Smith card in a pack and he was pictured in a Padres uniform!!!
Many great memories of Mr. Andujar through out his seasons he spent here in St. Louis. Through the good times (winning games 3 & 7 in the 1982 Series) and the bad times (his horrible 1985 World Series) he remained one of my favorite players.
Sorry for the long rambling post.. Although he might not have been one of the games biggest stars he played a major role in making me a life long fan of the game of baseball which in turn lead me to the great hobby of baseball cards! Thank you Mr. Andujar for the memories and rest in peace.
Edit to add: A great story about how he earned the nickname "One Tough Dominican"
https://urbanshocker.wordpress.com/2...ugh-dominican/