OT: Famous Baseball Players You’ve Seen Play In Person | Page 3 | The Boneyard

OT: Famous Baseball Players You’ve Seen Play In Person

Saw many baseball players in the 60's, 70's & 80's.....some of my favorites were Brooks Robinson, Mickey Mantle, Frank Robinson, Cal Ripken, Eddie Murray, Mike Schmidt, Pete Rose, Steve Carlton and Boog Powell
 
Saw my first major league game on a bus trip with the Meriden boys club in May of 1959. Saw Ted Williams but that day I became a Rocky Colavito fan. He homered twice that game.
 
Not me but my Dad played on a team with Jimmy Piersall. Here's the team, but Jimmy missed the picture. He was off to the Red Sox.
IMG_20150701_0002.jpg
 
Fun fact. I saw John Valentin turn an unassisted triple play in 1994. It was the 10th unassisted triple play ever at the time and there have been 5 more since making it one of the rarest things you can see in a baseball game. More rare than a perfect game.

Additional fun fact. This was also the 1st major league appearance by an 18 yr old Mariners shortstop named Alex Rodriguez. He went 0 for 3 and batted 9th.
 
.-.
Graduated from high school with Matt Harvey and Jesse Hahn. Played numerous youth sports with and against them both.
 
Not a huge baseball guy and not that old to watch any of the legends but I did attend a Mets vs. Giants game in 2001 while Bonds was chasing history. His at bats were electric. He actually hit one off the fence maybe a few feet from a HR. Everyone at Shea was standing and screaming
 
I've been waiting for this category. I saw both Joe DiMaggio and Ted Williams play. My dad used to take me to games at Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park. He was a Cleveland Indian fan and hated the Yankees. I was a Red Sox fan mostly because I didn't know what a yankee was. In the game at Fenway where I saw Ted Williams play, they were using the shift against him and he laid down a perfect bunt and laughed all the way to first base. I think they were playing the Tigers that day.
 
Way too many to list but perhaps more uniquely, I was in attendance at three historical games by chance (as I don’t really go to that many games).

Roger Clemens strikes out 20 Mariners
David Cone pitches a perfect game against the Expos
John Lester no-hits the Royals.
 
.-.
I was at Randy Johnsons 20 strike out game, I was 8, but it was still sweet.
 
Two Ted Williams stories you may like.
Sitting in the dugout in spring training and Ted comes and sits beside me. Knew he was a big fisherman like me so I asked him about how they were biting. He went on a rant about tarpon for about 5 minutes. Out of the blue, he asked me what position I played. After I told him I was a lefty pitcher, he gets up and says, "I don't talk to pitchers." Gets up and leaves.

My girlfriend (now wife) comes to Winter Haven, but since there are 5 minor league fields, she has no idea where I am. She finds me and I ask if she had any trouble. She said a nice older man in a uniform asked her if she was lost. She told him that her boyfriend was in AAA, but she didn't know which field, so he offered to help. I asked her who it was, and she said it was that nice older man over there. I laughed and said, "do you know who that is?". She had no idea it was Ted Williams. Her father couldn't believe it when she told him later that night.
 
Went to the old Chapel Square Mall in New Haven to see a bunch of the 1969 Mets signing photos.
Including Tom Seaver.
 
Duncan Idaho said:
How great is that? Nice area.
Expand ...

It is definitely something that I took for granted growing up. All it took was living in Willimantic while going to Eastern to realize how lucky I was. I told myself after that, for as long as I'm still living in CT, I will be living on the shoreline.
 
I saw someone mention earlier that they became a fan of a certain player because they hit a HR at a game they attended at an early age. That’s a fun sub topic: Who was a random player you became a fan of because they did something in a game you attended

As a kid I loved Gary Varsho. He was a bench guy for those early 90’s Pirates teams and I remember him hitting a HR in a game against the Phillies that I went to around my birthday. He became a favorite of mine that day
 
.-.
I saw Mickey Mantle's last World Series Home Run. It was against Barney Schultz who threw him a knuckle ball that didn't knuckle; he hit it off the facade in right field.
 
Chuck said:
  • 1999 NLDS Mets vs. Diamondbacks. A friend got last minute tix from his boss. I'm a Yankee fan, but it was a great game. We had seats about 20 rows behind the plate and we were sitting with Al Leiter's family. His wife was super nice and his brother Mark was pleasant, but wanted nothing to do with us (good decision by him). Leiter had a no hitter going and my very chatty friend points it out. I told him to shut up and he tells me it's stupid to think his statement can ruin the no hitter. I swear that it was the next pitch that gets ripped for the first hit. Leiter's wife leans over to him and says, "you're really not supposed to talk about it" and I thought Mark was going to kill him. Ended with a walk-off homer for the Mets to go to the NLCS.
Expand ...

I was in LF for that game. And even though we could see Finley clearly go over the wall, even we had no idea if he came down with Pratt's HR. Anyway, I was taking a new job in Quincy MA, so I knew that game would pretty much be my last at a NYC park for some time. And I knew I'd probably never go to Bobby V's again, so my gf (now wife) headed there afterwards. When BV held court it was in a small seating area in a raised area that held 3-4 tables. The place was crowded when we got there around 6-ish. But there were two open tables in BVs area, so we just sat at one. A little while later, BV shows up with Ralph Branca and a couple other guys and he's talking about every little detail of the game - it's Bobby V, after all, who doesn't know how to talk quietly. By this time, we realize we're not supposed to be sitting where we are (another waitress informed us, but there was no other table to move to, so she let us stay). I'm not one to ask for autographs (only once, when Nomar was sitting across from me on a flight from Dallas the night he hurt his arm, he signed my boarding pass), so we left them alone, but just listening to BV explain his thoughts during key moments was a blast.
 
Pawsox said:
Highs and lows of a minor leaguer-
Highs -
1. Pitched against Fisk, Yaz, Rice, Lynn, basically everyone on the 75 world series team. Rod Carew, Ricky Henderson, Rusty Staub, Omar Moreno, Dale Murphy and a ton others I faced in spring training.
2. Pitched against Righetti, Blyeven, Len Barker, Mahler brothers (Rick and Mickey), Jim Beattie, Ken Clay, Ed Whitson, Al Holland.
3. Won championships in Carolina and International Leagues (Ben Mondors first year as Pawtucket owner - great man.)
4. Johnny Podres was my pitching coach. Ted Williams loved to talk about fishing and hunting.

Lows -
1. Salary stunk. Was making $1,200/month in AAA. Of course, big league minimum in 1977 was $19,000. Only get paid during the season.
2. Bus rides stunk. Our bus in the Carolina League had no AC or bathroom. 10 hour bus rides overnight were not a lot of fun.
3. In those days, the only days off were the major league all star game day and our league all star game. 140 games in basically 142 days. Better conditions now.

Wouldn't trade those years for anything, except maybe a better shoulder.
Expand ...
You know how many people would have loved to experience this
 
Pawsox said:
Two Ted Williams stories you may like.
Sitting in the dugout in spring training and Ted comes and sits beside me. Knew he was a big fisherman like me so I asked him about how they were biting. He went on a rant about tarpon for about 5 minutes. Out of the blue, he asked me what position I played. After I told him I was a lefty pitcher, he gets up and says, "I don't talk to pitchers." Gets up and leaves.

My girlfriend (now wife) comes to Winter Haven, but since there are 5 minor league fields, she has no idea where I am. She finds me and I ask if she had any trouble. She said a nice older man in a uniform asked her if she was lost. She told him that her boyfriend was in AAA, but she didn't know which field, so he offered to help. I asked her who it was, and she said it was that nice older man over there. I laughed and said, "do you know who that is?". She had no idea it was Ted Williams. Her father couldn't believe it when she told him later that night.
Expand ...
Here's another Ted WIlliams story. I worked at Winchester in New Haven in the 70's. Ted Williams had retired by then and was working for Sears as their sports PR guy. We supplied firearms to Sears so they would often send a rep to tour the factory and attend our management meeting. One year we were delighted to find out that it would be the Splendid Splinter himself.
When he arrived, our HR manager took him for a factory tour. Most of the employees in the shop were African-Americans. When Ted would arrive in a department he would be inundated with autograph requests. Often the employees would hand him some currency and ask him to sign it. After a while, Ted turned to the employees and said with his less than subtle voice, "Where do you n-----s get all this money?" Our HR manager was appalled but the employees just laughed. Only Ted could have pulled that off.
Later that evening, at the management dinner Ted was fielding questions. Someone asked him if he thought that anyone would ever hit .400 again. He said if it happened it would have to be someone with great speed who could beat out some infield hits. I interrupted and pointed out that he had hit .388 at the age of 38 in 1957. His response was interesting. He said that year was very unusual. He and Mantle were both hitting on the .360's at mid-year and from that point on, almost everything he hit seemed to drop in. Another 10 hits or so and he would have hit .400. It was a great evening for a stats nerd like me.
 
.-.
Zanzman said:
You know how many people would have loved to experience this
Expand ...
That's great Zanz! Yes we all wonder what it's like to be good enough to go up against these guys. Just to be in that position you must have been a great player. The worst major leaguers are still great players. It's a freaking hard game I know. You musta got close to that big league chance. Those are some incredible names on your list.
 
jibsey said:
You're old but you just won! Now, anybody out there see Ruth or Gherig?
Expand ...

I was in 3rd grade at the time. 1951 was the only year they played together. "Joe D" was the man but us
kids really wanted to be "theMick"
 
John Greene said:
I was in 3rd grade at the time. 1951 was the only year they played together. "Joe D" was the man but us
kids really wanted to be "theMick"
Expand ...
Mick was quite the hero to have in the 50’s.
 
Chuck said:
Every Yankee from about 1978 to 2010 and I probably saw most of the American League stars (and many of the Nationals) during that time. I haven't gone much lately. Most memorable games and opponents:
  • Game 4 of the 2001 World Series. Strange and sad times in NY/NJ, dramatic 9th inning and finish. Just so emotional
  • Doc Gooden No-Hitter in 1996. I went with a few friends after school ended for the year. We sat in the bleachers. We knew there was a weird buzz, but because there were some walks/errors, and you can't see the scoreboard from the bleachers, we had no idea Doc was pitching a no-hitter until like the 6th inning. Then it was awesome.
  • 1999 NLDS Mets vs. Diamondbacks. A friend got last minute tix from his boss. I'm a Yankee fan, but it was a great game. We had seats about 20 rows behind the plate and we were sitting with Al Leiter's family. His wife was super nice and his brother Mark was pleasant, but wanted nothing to do with us (good decision by him). Leiter had a no hitter going and my very chatty friend points it out. I told him to shut up and he tells me it's stupid to think his statement can ruin the no hitter. I swear that it was the next pitch that gets ripped for the first hit. Leiter's wife leans over to him and says, "you're really not supposed to talk about it" and I thought Mark was going to kill him. Ended with a walk-off homer for the Mets to go to the NLCS.
  • Bo Jackson. I saw him as a teenager when he was at his biggest. We had seats right above the visitor dugout and we were friendly-heckling him (the Yankees were mediocre then) and we were pretty sure he grinned a bit. I'm sure I'm misremembering the exact timing, but first he went over the fence to take away a Yankee homer. Then he comes up the next half-inning and rips a homer. We gave him a polite "golf clap" standing O and he pointed up at us. What a freakin' talent.
Expand ...
 
gtcam said:
I seen so many play and met many in person, especially Red Sox because my father was close to Walt Dropo (UConn frat brother/house mate 2 years)
I talked UConn basketball on the field during pregame with Greg Maddux at BankOne (now Chase) Ballpark in Phoenix before a Braves/Diamondback game in August 2001.
I am a huge Cubbies fan so it was a thrill, but most importantly, I was wearing a UConn 1999 championship TShirt with a Cubs hat, and he wanted to talk UConn basketball. He is a college basketball junkie and loves Jim Calhoun.
Expand ...

This makes me so happy - Greg Maddux is my favorite pitcher of all time and one of my 2-3 favorite players of all time (Andruw Jones and Mantle, though I’m young so I never saw or watched Mantle live).

Obviously, Jim Calhoun is my favorite coach of all time. So I’m thrilled about this story.

Biggest regret? Being 4 hour drive from Cooperstown and not going to see Maddux get inducted with Glavine a few years ago. Huge Braves fan from the start of my baseball life in the early 90s to today.
 
jibsey said:
Anyone out there see Joltin Joe play?
Expand ...
No but I was at the last ever Joe DiMaggio day at Yankee Stadium, 1998 I believe. His last public appearance. I was just a young in but my dad made sure I remembered it
 
.-.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,205
Messages
4,556,836
Members
10,442
Latest member
Virginiafan


Top Bottom