Friday, October 7, 2011

Fast Five Friday: Diamond Memories

I'm starting this post as I watch the Milwaukee Brewers play the Arizona Diamondbacks in a decisive game 5. The Brewers lead 2-1 in the bottom of the 8th, so things are a little tense. I'm not much of a baseball guy anymore, but we took the girls to a Brewers' game this summer, and that rekindled my interest a bit. Even though I don't follow baseball very closely, this game has the ol' juices flowing. Something about the slower pace of baseball makes a close game particularly nerve-wracking.

Arizona just tied it. Damn. Hold on, I gotta watch this.

Wow. Arizona almost took the lead, but we're tied going to the bottom of the 9th.

As I was trying to say, I'm not much of a baseball fan anymore, but I do have some fond baseball memories. This week's Fast Five is all about diamond memories.

And we're going to extra innings..........

5) The Brewers played the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1982 World Series. This was a very difficult experience for me. I loved the Brewers, but when it came to baseball, I was a huge Cardinals fan. My little league team was the Cardinals, so I'd always cheered for them. I would have been happy either way, but unlike all of my friends, I was not devastated when the Brewers lost a hard-fought series in 7 games.

Arizona didn't score, going to the bottom of the 10th.

4) In 1987, the Brewers started the season 13-0. I remember listening to the games on the radio with my buddies as we drank Jolly Good soda in their basement. I remember how our excitement built with each win.

Brewers just won it!!!!!!!!!! Brilliant!!!!!!!!!!! This calls for a beer.

3) I had a friend in a fraternity at the University of Wisconsin. He invited me and my Jolly Good buddies to go to a game with the fraternity. We weren't interested in joining the fraternity, but we knew there'd be a keg on the bus, so we were in. I may have been seeing double, but I'm pretty sure Kirby Puckett went 6-6 with 3 home runs and an unbelievable over-the-wall catch to rob the Brewers of a grand slam. We were in the bleachers at the old County Stadium, and I remember the bleachers giving Puckett a standing ovation as he came out to center in the 9th-very cool.

2) Baseball went dormant for me for a long time. Last summer, Scout and I went to a Minnesota Twins game with my brother-in-law and his daughter. Target Field is a beautiful ballpark, and we had a great time. It was a good game, but the most memorable thing happened in the stands. A couple drunks got into a pretty nasty fight about 20 feet from us. My brother-in-law and I tried to shield the girls, but it happened so fast, they saw enough. I thought they'd be traumatized, but the rest of the night they kept making up conversations that might have led up to the fight, all of them extremely funny to them, and quite honestly, the dads too.

1) As I mentioned before, the Rileys went to a game in Milwaukee this summer. I think the picture explains why this is my #1 baseball memory.....to date.










I don't know if you have any favorite baseball memories, but if you do, leave them in the comments.

8 comments:

  1. I'm not a huge baseball fan, but I was lucky enough to attend one of the 1987 Twins playoff games in the Metrodome, the year they won the World Series. The Twins won, and I will never forget the noise, the excitement and the waving sea of Homer Hankies. I'd been to several Vikings games in the Dome before, but they were nothing compared to this. It was like living in an adrenaline rush for 3 hours.

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  2. Would ya look at those girls--cutest fans ever!

    I've always loved baseball. Watching and playing it. My dad coached at a time when girls couldn't play (can you imagine?), so one of my favorite memories is of my dad letting me practice on the diamond with his Little League team, and keep score at the games.

    The names that came up in conversation at our house, when I was a girl, were Carl Yastrzemski, Rico Petrocelli, Bill Fisk, Luis Tiant, Tony Conigliaro, Jim Rice, and Reggie Smith. And then, of course, there was the great Teddy Williams, whose hand I once shook at a tuna derby.

    How I love that Green Monster. Reading your post, I wished I were still living in Boston. ;)

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  3. I spent more than a few hours at Royals Stadium watching the likes of George Brett, Amos Otis, Freddie Patek, and Cookie Rojas. I also spent more than a few years in uniform playing riding the bench in high school. But I remember one particular game I listened to on a hot desert night in 1990 when Nolan Ryan pitched his 6th no-hitter... at 43, everyone thought it was his last. Awesome pic.

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  4. Squilla: Very cool. I don't remember what year it was, but I remember Kirby making a ridiculous catch to rob a home run. I think it was in the WS. That guy was amazing.

    Jayne: I love that connection you have with your dad. The Red Sox have had their share of greats over the years, but Ted Williams is an icon, how cool that you got to meet him, if only briefly. Seeing a game in Fenway is definitely on my Bucket List.

    Munk: I loved the George Brett-era Royals. As soon as I hear the name George Brett, the pine tar debacle immediately comes to mind.

    There's something beautiful about listening to a baseball game on the radio. Hearing a no-hitter: classic.

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  5. Not a big baseball fan but I plan on seeing Moneyball. Does that count? Probably not lol.

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  6. Michael: Who knows, after Moneyball you might become a baseball fan. I'm looking forward to seeing it myself.

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  7. I loved the Diamond Memories but I especially loved the way we got to watch some of the game with you!

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  8. I love baseball. Glad to see the Pilots doing so well. :) My favorite baseball memory is deifitely the Edgar Martinez double that helped the Mariners beat the Yankies in game 5 of the 95 division series. That is iconic here.

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