What was the most Memorable Game You have sen in person?

[oldjudge]

Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS when Aaron Boone hit the HR off Tim Wakefield. One often forgotten fact is Jason Giambi hit two solo HRs in the game to keep the Yankees close.

[Wite3]

I have a few....

Kirk Gibson W.S. HR is the best.

Other notable...
Ramon Martinez no-hitter.
Fernando Tatis, two grand slams in the same inning (this is a record that will probably never be broken).
1981 All-Star game.

Joshua

[FrankWakefield]

Wow... the "most"...

1963 I saw Mr. Musial play...

1964 saw World Series game 7, Gibson got the win, Mantle hit a home run.

I think it was 1965 when I saw Mike Shannon put on cather's equipment after neither Uecker nor McCarver could catch, the Giants won that day with Spahn.

I saw Lou Brock's 3000th hit in 1979.

In 1982 I saw game 2 of the World Series, Darryl Porter's wrong field double got the Cards going for a win after a horrible game 1.

I think it was 1984 when I saw the Cubs beat the Cards in a NBC game of the week Saturday game, McGee had a couple of home runs I think, maybe Suitter gave up 2 home runs to Sandburg, Cubs won maybe 12-11 in 11 innings.

In Cincy I saw Mario Soto a pitch away from a no hitter, the Reds were up 1-0 in the 9th, 2 outs, 2 strikes on George Hendricks, and Mario dusts him off and knocks him down. George gets up, dusts himself off, jams his helmet back on his head, and lines the next pitch, a knee high inside blazing fastball, over the left field fence, a low line drive. George silently circles the bases, the Reds fans stand silently and watch. (Reds won in the bottom of the 9th) Now why knock a guy down in that situation??

I saw Pete Rose's hit # 4192....

I sat in Atlanta watching the Braves pile up runs against the Yankees in game 4, 6-0 after 5 innings. Some Yankee fans got drunk, and a few passed out... they missed the Yankees score 3 in the 6th, 3 more in the 8th to tie (University of Kentucky graduate Jim Leyritz hit a home run in the 8th), then the Yankees got 2 in the top of the 10th and held on to win 8-6. 4 hours, 17 minutes of baseball.

Oh... I sat through that Cardinals loss in 2004, game 4 of the World Series as the Red Sox won it all. The Sox fans were reverent, soaking it all in...

But I'm going to pick this game:



This is the game that Rich Klein mentions above... we were at the same game! This was the last baseball game I attended with my Dad... Wife, kids and I flew to Las Vegas, stayed a couple of days, rented a car and drove to the Grand Canyon, then down to Phoenix, where we turned in the car and met up with my parents who lived in Tucson, who would take us back there for a few days. We just happened to meet in Phoenix where the Cardinals happened to be playing, and we happened to have tickets! And after years of letters and phone calls I finally met Lew Lipset at this game. I'd called him saying I was going to be at it, we told one another about our seat locations, he couldn't get up to me, I was happy to go down to him, and I now wish I'd met Rich that evening... maybe Lew gave a cursory introduction, I don't recall. (Hello, Rich!) Lew and I talked for a few minutes before the game. As I recall his seats were behind the first base dugout, near the plate end, and maybe 16 or 18 rows from the field...

I vividly recall hearing the pop of the ball as Randy Johnson warmed up in the bullpen, down and to the left of where I was sitting. He looked intense. This was a pitchers' duel. Johnson was dominant, Jimenez held on best he could. 0-0 after 8. Top of the 9th Darren Bragg draws a walk. Johnson walks McGuire. 1st and 2nd with Eric Davis up, Johnson strikes him out. Then what I recall is Thomas Howard fighting off an evil pitch with a shortened swing, the bat breaks and the ball bounces out into left field, Bragg, a good runner who was going on contact, dashes across the plate. And that was the only run of the game. Retrosheet says it was 2 hours 10 minutes, I don't doubt it... Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jimenez were pitchers that day, 2 complete games.

A few years later I finally was at a game when Colorado was at St. Louis. I'd taken this ticket stub along. Half a dozen Rockies were signing, I missed out on some autographs staying focused on Jimenez, who had walked over to sign. He saw that I held a sign with his name and asking for an autograph (in Spanish), a ticket stub, and a Sharpie. He walked over and asked me what I had, while he signed for everyone but me. Soon I figured out he wanted me to talk about how good he was that night, so everyone else could hear. I obliged him. That ticket was the last thing I saw him sign that day, and I'm grateful for it.

A memorable game, because of Dad, because of the no hitter, how we got there, meeting Mr. Lipset....

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Wow... the "most"...

This is the game that Rich Klein mentions above... we were at the same game! This was the last baseball game I attended with my Dad... Wife, kids and I flew to Las Vegas, stayed a couple of days, rented a car and drove to the Grand Canyon, then down to Phoenix, where we turned in the car and met up with my parents who lived in Tucson, who would take us back there for a few days. We just happened to meet in Phoenix where the Cardinals happened to be playing, and we happened to have tickets! And after years of letters and phone calls I finally met Lew Lipset at this game. I'd called him saying I was going to be at it, we told one another about our seat locations, he couldn't get up to me, I was happy to go down to him, and I now wish I'd met Rich that evening... maybe Lew gave a cursory introduction, I don't recall. (Hello, Rich!) Lew and I talked for a few minutes before the game. As I recall his seats were behind the first base dugout, near the plate end, and maybe 16 or 18 rows from the field...

I vividly recall hearing the pop of the ball as Randy Johnson warmed up in the bullpen, down and to the left of where I was sitting. He looked intense. This was a pitchers' duel. Johnson was dominant, Jimenez held on best he could. 0-0 after 8. Top of the 9th Darren Bragg draws a walk. Johnson walks McGuire. 1st and 2nd with Eric Davis up, Johnson strikes him out. Then what I recall is Thomas Howard fighting off an evil pitch with a shortened swing, the bat breaks and the ball bounces out into left field, Bragg, a good runner who was going on contact, dashes across the plate. And that was the only run of the game. Retrosheet says it was 2 hours 10 minutes, I don't doubt it... Mr. Johnson and Mr. Jimenez were pitchers that day, 2 complete games.

A few years later I finally was at a game when Colorado was at St. Louis. I'd taken this ticket stub along. Half a dozen Rockies were signing, I missed out on some autographs staying focused on Jimenez, who had walked over to sign. He saw that I held a sign with his name and asking for an autograph (in Spanish), a ticket stub, and a Sharpie. He walked over and asked me what I had, while he signed for everyone but me. Soon I figured out he wanted me to talk about how good he was that night, so everyone else could hear. I obliged him. That ticket was the last thing I saw him sign that day, and I'm grateful for it.

A memorable game, because of Dad, because of the no hitter, how we got there, meeting Mr. Lipset....

Lew did give us a cursory introduction -- how about that; meeting up with you again after all these years

And you are spot on about where his tickets were for that game.

Rich

[FrankWakefield]

Hello again, Rich...

Ten years ago... would you recall that as you sat, Lew was to your left? I do believe he introduced us, told me you were a fellow collector, then Lew and I talked a bit.

You had excellent seats for a game that was great, for purists and fans. For some folks a quick game with few hits and only one run would have been a bit boring. What a game! As I remember the evening, we watched them roll open the roof to Also Sprach Zarathustra. I can close my eyes and see the stars overhead, I can still see tall Randy Johnson looking from the mound into left as that ground ball oozed its way past the short stop.

FW

[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by FrankWakefield

Hello again, Rich...

Ten years ago... would you recall that as you sat, Lew was to your left? I do believe he introduced us, told me you were a fellow collector, then Lew and I talked a bit.

You had excellent seats for a game that was great, for purists and fans. For some folks a quick game with few hits and only one run would have been a bit boring. What a game! As I remember the evening, we watched them roll open the roof to Also Sprach Zarathustra. I can close my eyes and see the stars overhead, I can still see tall Randy Johnson looking from the mound into left as that ground ball oozed its way past the short stop.

FW

That's exactly as we were sitting. And that's exactly how the intro progressed.
And I sent a copy of this thread to Lew (he says hello to both of us Frank BTW) and has enjoyed reading this thread thoroughly.

Regards
Rich

[Ladder7]

Fenway for just a fin a piece!
July, 1967. A sunny weekday afternoon at Fenway with about fifty other Dorchester delinquents from a City of Boston youth center. Tix were easy that early in the season of Impossibility. $2.50 grandstand tix, olive loaf and mustard sandwiches and a Mountain Dew!
Lonborg won, but what I remember most. The crazy grounds guy climbing the ladder of that big wall (noone called it the Monster back then) to walk the top and toss down the balls after BP. No stub, no pictures

[RichardSimon]

I was at the last Giants-Dodgers game ever played in NYC at the Polo Grounds 1957 won by the Giants, I was at Jim Bunning's perfect game in 1964, I was at the longest game in baseball history Giants-Mets in 1964 (23 inns, 7+ hours and it included a triple play), I was at the Robin Ventura walk off home run/single in 1999 at the NLCS game 5 Mets vs Braves and I was at the last 2 games ever played at Shea Stadium .

[birdman42]

Memorial Stadium for the 1983 playoffs and Series. This was back in the day (did I just say that?) when actual fans could get tickets. I brought a chair and a blanket and sat out in line the night before with a couple hundred other fans. Darn Os were too good that year; never got to use my Game 5 playoff tix or game 6-7 Series tix. Ah, well, I did see Boddicker strike out 14 in game 2 of the playoffs. Series seats were in the next-to-the-top row along the third base side. Go up one row and you could look out over the edge of the stadium to see the city below

But that's not #1...

Friday, October 1, 1982. Weaver had announced at the beginning of the season that he'd be retiring at the end, and that Ripken kid had come up from the minors. The Brewers come to town for a four-game series, three games up on the Os. A Friday evening doubleheader, with 48,000 fans shaking brooms and screaming "Sweep! Sweep!" for two full games. Os won both, of course, then again Saturday, to set up the Sunday game (which Palmer lost, 10-2). Gives me chills just typing this.

Bill

[triwak]

A few:

1) Saw Lou Brock double up someone at first base from left field after catching a line drive. Gibson was pitching. 1968.

2) Saw Gibson get his 2999th strike-out! Hank Aaron got a pinch-hit single during his farewell tour.

3) Saw George Brett creep his average up to .399 in mid-September, 1980. Think he went 4-for-5.

4) Saw final two games in St. Louis, 1998. McGwire hit HR's #67-70. Maybe it is tainted now, but still the most exciting sporting event I've ever witnessed!

5) Saw the playoff game where Rick Ankiel lost his mind. With a 6-0 lead in the third, he threw something like 10 wild pitches, and was never the same again.

[ethicsprof]

Seeing Joe DiMaggio hit the homer in an Old Timers Game still is my favorite.

best,

barry

[drc]

When I was in high school, I skipped school to go to see the NCAA Cross Country (running) Championships that took place nearby. That was good fun, in part because I was a runner. Cross country really is cross country, as the runners run a 10K across fields, over the grass and mud, through the woods. It's one of the few NCAA sports that doesn't take place in a contained, artificial field, stadium or building. Even long distance running in track & field season takes place on a synthetic track inside a stadium.

[tedzan]

Well, I would like to say Don Larsen's W.S. PERFECT GAME in 1956, which I saw; but, not at Yankee Stadium.

Or, I can say the record-breaking NFL game at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore in the Fall of '72. Where Namath threw
for 500 yards and Unitas threw for 390 yards. I was there for that amazing game and still have the ticket to prove it.

But, here is my most exciting game......Sept of '51 my cousin pulls up to my house in his 1951 Buick Riviera convertible
and says he has two tickets to Ebbets Field. We arrive in Flatbush to an SRO crowd in the stadium. The Dodgers take
a 1-0 lead into the 9th inning. The Giants lead off in the 9th with two guys on base. Bobby Thomson slices a ball to RF.
Carl Furillo (the veritable rifle arm) wings the ball to home as the runner slides. The Umpire raises his arm to signify OUT.
Then the Ump changes his call to SAFE.....all "bedlam" breaks out in Brooklyn.

Apparently, when the dust cleared it, Campy had dropped the ball. The Giants went on to win 2-1. This game exemplified
the entire 1951 season, in which BB saw one of the greatest comebacks ever by the Giants....that culminated with Bobby
Thomson's "shot heard around the world" in the final playoff game between these two NY rivals.


TED Z

[ocjack]

That's an easy one.

1961, Los Angeles Wrigley Field, Maris hits his 50th. home run.

[calvindog]

Game 3, 1978 World Series, the Dodgers were leading the Yankees 2-0 in games; Sutton pitching for the Dodgers and Roy White hitting a homerun down the right field line in the first inning. The game was best known for the incredible plays made by Graig Nettles at third base.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Game 7, 71 World Series. Blass when he was still good over Cuellar. Clemente HR. Pirates win 2-1.

[robedits]

Tom Seaver's 300th win at the Stadium (85).

Yanks win at Stadium vs Twins,9-8,after being down 8-0. Sometime mid-80s. mattingl'y homer sailed right over my head in the blue seats for the game-winner if I remember!

First game attended with my dad at Yankee Stadium '66 or '67. Dad pointing out the Mick to me during BP. I remember it was late summer,vs Chisox or Det. Clearly in my mind,I remember Mick hitting a GW homer,but I don't think he played the whole game. MIght have been as a PH!

First time with dad at shea during '64 worlds fair.I was only 6,so I have no memories of the game,other than the fact that I ate too much ice cream and my baby brother got sick and we had to leave!

Again,with dad ..and 2 friends at a night game at Shea,when Yankees played there,it was 1974. Against the angels. Frank Robby I think knocked one out. Dad had a minor heart attack at the game and DROVE US ALL HOME before taking himself to the hospital. Top THAT for danger :-) He didnt tell us until later about the attack; I just thought he looked ill. He did take some bullets and shrapnel in WW2,so he was a tough bird.

Gooden's 1H,10-0 (?) shutout at shea vs the Cubs (84),where I think he broke the rookie K record for one season as a P.

Dont remember much about this game,but dad's friend jack Lang (writer) got me into Mets dugout in '72 before the game to sit with Kooz,Staub,Grote and co. We saw Seaver and I asked for his autograph for me and my brother (Yogi gave us a couple of baseballs!),but he was crabby and I heard him say to Kooz ("who the f is this kid?"). My dad,who was with Jack talking to him on the top of the steps,heard that. Dad was a big,tough guy and I was embarassed when he said to Seaver "please don't talk that way about my boy". I wasn't exactly a baby myself,I was 13 and about 6 feet tall. Tom just walked away and my pop was steamed. Jack got us 2 autos later on and brought them to my dad at his school. Maybe Tom was having a bad day. Biggest thrill,though,was meeting Mays and noticing how strong his arms looked and how big his hands were when he shook my hand. Got his auto on my glove,along with Rusty's and Kooz...and my younger brother used it in a game in the rain a few days later. Still have the glove in my garage;cant see the autos anymore,sadly.

GREAT thread!