First Game — Baseball Bench Coach

A great joy in life is to experience the excitement of your first MLB game – the beauty of the playing field, the smell of grilled hot dogs, the sound of the crack of the bat, the bigness of it all. In these days of trying to reflect on your blessings and hold them closely, one of mine is to have lived this moment more than once through my own eyes and those of my family members. And another great pleasure is to hear others share personal stories of their first game; it makes my memories even brighter. So let’s take another nostalgic look back with the hope of more first games for others coming soon.

I attended my first MLB game when I was five years old, and oddly enough, it was not in my hometown of Cincinnati, but rather in Cleveland visiting relatives. My uncle surprised my Dad, brother and me with four tickets to an Indians game. It was not just any Indians game, but the opponent would be the New York Yankees! Checking the 1964 schedule, I believe the game was played the night of July 13. I recall my brother being excited about seeing Mickey Mantle. My strongest memory of that night is that I couldn’t believe how many people were at the game. I don’t remember much else other than spending a lot of time eating and having fun. The box score of the game shows a 10-4 win by the first-place Yankees, a crowd of only 18,427 in cavernous Cleveland Stadium, and a home run by Mantle.

What none of us knew that night was that the 1964 season would mark the endpoint of the Yankees’ dominance of baseball that had lasted several decades through Babe Ruth, Joe DiMaggio and now Mantle. While the Yankees won the AL in 1964, the upstart St. Louis Cardinals upset them in the World Series. The Yankees would not return to the Series until 1976. Because of knee issues, Mantle was on the downside of a HOF career spanning 18 seasons. His game combined speed on the base paths, exceptional outfield play, a lifetime batting average of .298, and the most power as a switch-hitter baseball has ever seen. Many like to place Mickey on Baseball’s Mount Rushmore as one of the four greatest ever.

My first game at Wrigley Field is also a day to remember. In exchange for two days of hard labor moving my brother in West Lafayette, Indiana, he treated me to a day trip to Chicago and my choice of what to do. It was a no brainer; I wanted to see the Cubs play! It was Saturday, August 2, 1976, a game vs. the Phillies. We drove his Dodge Demon into the area near the ballpark and parked in the backyard of a nearby resident. An unfriendly German Shepherd barked at us as we locked the car. Welcome to Wrigleyville! I recall seeing a lot of fans taking photos outside the park in front of the sign “Wrigley Field, Home of Chicago Cubs”. I didn’t know the story then but I do now. The Marquee is the most famous venue entrance in all of professional sports. The playing field was so beautiful, luscious grass and the ivy-covered outfield wall, in stark contrast to the cookie-cutter Astroturf stadiums of that era. Also, I recall one of my favorite tastes, a hot dog right off the grill in the concourse. Two of them would do just fine for a 17-year old.

The box score of that summer 1976 game details a Cubs 4-2 victory with Bill Bonham getting the win on the mound and offensive support from Bill Madlock, Manny Trillo, and Pete LaCock. On the Phillies’ side of the ledger, two hits from their All-Star third baseman, Mike Schmidt, stand out. I was a big fan of Schmidt, the future Hall of Famer and 3-time winner of the NL MVP. I loved that he was from nearby Dayton, Ohio, and that he played my same infield position growing up. Schmidt, like Mantle, combined power hitting and superb defense in an 18-season career. Many consider Schmidt to be the best third baseman in our game’s history. I would be in Chicago a few years later when Schmidt hit the game-winning home run in the famous 23-22 Phillies wind-blown win over the Cubs.

In 1989 I was able to experience another first game, that of my oldest daughter. Father’s Day, June 18, would be our first game together to see the Cardinals at Busch Stadium in St. Louis. She had not as yet turned 4 years old, so I was very concerned about the game keeping her attention. My memories from the game include lots of ballpark snacks and standing in a long line for about two innings waiting to see the Cardinals mascot, Fredbird. It didn’t matter to either of us that the Pirates won the game 12-4 or that we arrived too late to get a Lou Brock bobblehead. We had fun, which is what every game is all about.

I knew that day we were watching another future Hall of Famer, Ozzie Smith, the “Wizard of Oz”. Ozzie led the Cardinals to three NL championships in the 1980s and the World Series title in 1982. Baseball in the ‘80s centered upon speed and defense, mostly because of the fast playing surfaces. Triples, not home runs, dominated the box scores. Ozzie won the Gold Glove for 13 consecutive seasons with his acrobatic play at shortstop. He came into the league as an average hitter, but found his stroke in mid-career winning the 1987 NL Silver Slugger Award as the top hitting shortstop. And sadly, my daughter’s first game in 1989 would mark an end to a wonderful baseball decade as the game in the ‘90s turned to PEDs and the home run ball.

Life came full circle last May when I shared my grandson’s first MLB game at Wrigley Field. Ironically, he was about the same age as is mother at her first game. It was the Reds vs. Cubs, my two favorite teams, on a beautiful day at the ballpark. While his favorite part of the day might have been riding the “L” to and from the game, the first game Wrigley experience could not have been a better one. We, too, enjoyed the ballpark food (and lots of it), and even watched most of the game! Our seats were down the third base side, so we had a nice view of shortstop Javier Baez, the most exciting player in baseball today. Sensing some restlessness in the bottom of the seventh inning, I took my grandson to play in Gallagher Way, a turfed area just outside the ballpark gates. He could expend some energy, while I could catch the last two innings of the Cubs 8-6 win on the big screen.

Wow, I really enjoyed writing this piece, so many wonderful first game memories. I hope they helped you to remember yours. I want to hear about them in the Comments section below. I want to keep smiling, especially now.

Until next Monday,

your Baseball Bench Coach