August 8, 1983: The First Yankees Lineup(s) I Ever Saw In Person

This post is a personal trip down memory lane and not stats based – I promise I will do one of those soon.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

***

I was a couple weeks shy of my 9th birthday when I finally attended my first Yankee game(s).

At the time, I was very frustrated with my father for waiting so long to take me to Yankee Stadium. I also remember thinking it was because I was a girl and that if his first born child were male, he’d have been to a few games by then.

My dad made up for it by taking me to a single admission doubleheader in August 1983. The Yankees were scheduled to play the Toronto Blue Jays and on top of being able to see two games in one day, my dad also invited Joe, the boy I had a crush on to go with us, along with two of my other male friends, Billy and John.

As a young girl, I led a double life, so to speak. I did girly things like play with Barbies and gossip about boys during lunch with my girlfriends but I also traded baseball cards and played kickball with the boys during recess.

We had passed the Stadium many times while taking trips into the city or out to Long Island to visit relatives so it wasn’t like I hadn’t seen it before. It always seemed so enormous to me and when I walked inside for the first time it was even bigger than I had imagined. 9-year-old Stacey was in total awe.

I soaked in as much as I could as we made our way to our seats. The grass seemed so much greener in person than it did on TV. And the blue outfield walls were more vibrant in person. The scoreboard was massive and home plate seemed so far away from our seats. I didn’t want to sit down, I wanted to explore.

Our seats were in the first row of the second to last section in left field at field level. In those days, the wall extended all the way back to the seats – there was no space for balls to fall into, no plexiglass, no fold up chairs – so if anything were to be hit our way, we’d catch it. Well, not me, as much as I loved sports as a little girl, I wasn’t allowed to participate because I had eye issues and my hand/eye coordination was pretty poor. That made playing the outfield in kickball during recess quite the adventure.

Anyway, without further adieu, here is the first New York Yankees lineup I saw in action:

Batting AB R H RBI BB SO BA OPS
Willie Randolph 2B 5 2 3 0 0 0 .279 .719 GDP
Graig Nettles 3B 5 1 1 0 0 2 .256 .799
Dave Winfield LF 5 3 3 2 0 1 .273 .844 2B
Oscar Gamble DH 4 1 2 3 0 0 .304 .952 HR,HBP
Butch Wynegar C 5 0 2 2 0 0 .309 .846
Steve Kemp RF 5 0 0 0 0 0 .258 .748
Don Mattingly 1B 4 0 2 0 0 1 .333 .857 2B
Jerry Mumphrey CF 2 1 0 0 2 0 .264 .736
Andre Robertson SS 3 0 0 0 0 0 .259 .626 SH
Team Totals 38 8 13 7 2 4 .342 .864
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/22/2012.

A few of the names are very recognizable to people now – Don Mattingly, Dave Winfield, Willie Randolph, and Graig Nettles – and others aren’t as recognizable, unless those people are diehard baseball fans like us.

Mattingly had only been up a little while at that point, Randolph and Nettles were mainstays from bygone Bronx Zoo era and Winfield was Winfield.

That lineup produced eight runs off of three Toronto pitchers: Starter Jim Clancy and relievers Jim Acker and Randy Moffitt.

The Yankees were fortunate in that first game. Their starter, Ron Guidry, pitched a complete game which is a luxury during a doubleheader.

I was a little disappointed that I didn’t see any home runs in that first game. It wasn’t that the Yankees didn’t hit any, we just made an ill-timed bathroom and food break – but luckily for me (and everyone else in attendance), the Yankees made up for it in Game Two.

(Edited: I left a whole sentence out about an ill-timed bathroom/food break in the third which caused us all to miss Oscar Gamble’s home run. At that point my dad probably was regretting bringing that many kids to a game with no one to help him out.)

Here’s the lineup for that game:

Batting AB R H RBI BB SO BA OPS
Willie Randolph 2B 4 1 1 0 1 0 .278 .717
Graig Nettles 3B 5 1 2 0 0 3 .258 .802 2B
   Larry Milbourne 3B 0 0 0 0 0 0 .217 .518
Dave Winfield LF 4 2 1 1 1 1 .273 .850 HR
Ken Griffey 1B 3 2 3 4 2 0 .339 .860 HR
Don Baylor DH 5 2 2 1 0 1 .299 .856 HR,SB
Don Mattingly RF 5 2 2 1 0 0 .336 .870 2·2B
Jerry Mumphrey CF 3 1 0 0 2 0 .261 .733
Rick Cerone C 5 0 2 1 0 0 .205 .548
Andre Robertson SS 3 0 0 1 0 2 .256 .619 SF
Team Totals 37 11 13 9 6 7 .351 1.107
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/22/2012.

You’ll notice a few changes. Namely, Ken Griffey, Don Baylor and Rick Cerone being inserted in place of Mattingly, Oscar Gamble and Butch Wynegar. And no, you’re not seeing things, Don Mattingly was moved into right field for the second game.

That lineup scored 11 runs off of Toronto pitching with Winfield, Griffey and Baylor all going deep – Griffey and Baylor went back-to-back in the bottom of the first. Griffey hit a grand slam to right and Baylor hit a solo shot to left and no, we didn’t catch it. It wasn’t that close to us.

So much for not seeing any home runs that day.

The most amusing thing about that whole day was that I thought the Yankees had won both of those games simply because I was there. What an inflated sense of self for a little girl of 9-years-old but there seemed to be some truth to it for a while.

I had a 10-game winning streak to open my game going experience. That streak ended during a game against the Red Sox in September 1984. I, unfortunately, had developed a fever around the fifth inning just as Boston was in the midst of scoring three runs to go ahead 4-1. (Maybe the run scoring made me ill?)

I remember I didn’t want to leave because even as a kid, I wanted to stay until the last out but it was impossible to do so, as I was growing weaker and weaker by the second.

We ended up listening to the Yankees lose the game during the car ride home – they lost 4-3 – and I, of course, blamed myself for the debacle. Children can be so silly.

If you remember your first game, look it up, take a gander at the lineup and talk about it in the comments. If you’re one of those people who attended a game when you were so little that you don’t actually remember it – I have a friend who claims to have been in her mom’s womb during Dave Righetti‘s no-hitter earlier that year – talk about the first game you remember attending.

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Ed
Ed
11 years ago

Great post Stacey! I don’t remember my first game but I do remember being at this game, and seeing Cory Snyder put together a dominating performance. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CLE/CLE198607290.shtml Snyder drove in all three Indian’s runs that day via a double and a home run. He also made a diving catch in the outfield and, on a separate play, threw Kirk Gibson out at home, leading to both Gibson and Sparky getting tossed from the game. At the time, Snyder was a rookie, a former #2 overall draft pick and we had high hopes for him. That game seemed to cement those… Read more »

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
11 years ago
Reply to  Ed

In 1987 I traded my Donruss Canseco rookie card for 10 Cory Snyder 1984 Topps Olympic cards.
It was a calculated gamble.
But the .434 on the back of that card was so seductive.

Doug
Editor
11 years ago

Cool post Stacey, My first game was actually when I was on holiday. In Canada. I was a couple months shy of my 16th birthday, and took in the Expos-Dodgers game at “Parc Jarry” in Montreal (even smaller than you would think, in contrast to the “the Stadium”). The Expos got a walk-off 3-2 win in the 10th inning. I was sitting on the 1st base line and remember a young Gary Carter playing RF – he was just hustling all the time. Definitely a different time – there were 6 sacrifice bunts in the game; Dodger runs came on… Read more »

no statistician but
no statistician but
11 years ago

Stacey: I remember the first Yankee game I saw in person, July 26, 1956, but the circumstances were far different. The Danville, IL YMCA ran a bus to Chicago full of kids between the ages of 9 and 16 or so, with a stop along the way at Brookfield Zoo before going on to Comiskey Park. This was the year of Mantle’s first monster season, the triple crown one, and we were all disappointed that he didn’t hit any HRs. Just went 3 for 3 with 2 BBs and 2 SBs. Billy Martin, Hank Bauer, Bill Skowron, and Yogi were… Read more »

Devon
11 years ago

Why didn’t you get to see the Oscar Gamble HR in the 1st game?

Disco
Disco
11 years ago

First game I remember attending:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN198305010.shtml

Supposedly I saw a game at Met Stadium but I was too little to remember it.

RJ
RJ
11 years ago

The memory of my first game is unfortunately far vaguer than yours Stacey (I was seven at the time) although I will do my best. It was the August of 1996 and I was pretty excited to be spending the summer holidays visiting my Dad in Kansas City. Being from across the pond my sport of choice was football (soccer), and we’d already been to see the Kansas City Wiz a few times in the nascent MLS, enjoying the quirks of the American take on the beautiful game and the febrile atmosphere in the stadium. It did seem appropriate to… Read more »

Kim
Kim
11 years ago

I grew up in Central Florida as a diehard Red Sox fan. We moved south when I was 5 and I did not attend a game at Fenway until I was 13. Before that I had to be content with spring training My first Fenway experience came on September 6, 1980 against the Mariners. The lineup was (per retrosheet): Burleson Stapleton Yaz Rice Perez Fisk Dwyer Evans Hoffman P–Dick Drago My uncle got me seats in the front row behind home plate just to the left of the screen. It was one of the greatest times of my life. Pudge–my… Read more »

bstar
bstar
11 years ago

My first game was in Cincinnati in 1975. My Dad was driving me home to Ohio from seeing his parents in southern Kentucky and I was seven. It was the Big Red Machine vs. the Astros. We sat directly behind home plate, mid-level, and to my seven-year-old mind every pop-up looked like it was a home run and was a thousand feet high. I remember feeling disappointed every time what looked like a home run would land in an infielder’s glove for a pop-fly out. My only memories of the actual game were Bob Watson hitting a home run for… Read more »

bstar
bstar
11 years ago
Reply to  bstar

Oops, I forgot to talk about the lineups. Apparently Sparky Anderson was giving Cesar Geronimo(CF) and Davey Concepcion (SS) the night off as a young George Foster started in center and Darrel Chaney started at short for the Reds. Both Geronimo and Concepcion would get pinch-hit AB’s later in the game, with Cesar doubling to ignite the ninth inning rally for the home team. Dan Driessen started in left and Fred Norman was on the hill for the Redlegs. As for the Astros, James Rodney Richard started for Houston but surprisingly only had 4 K’s in 6.2 IP.

MikeD
MikeD
11 years ago

Thanks for the memories…literally. While this was not my first game, I was actually at these very same Yankee games vs. Tononto. I remember it because it was doubleheader. I’ve attended many, many games over the years, but very few single-admit doubleheaders, and since they don’t do those anymore, I don’t anticipate I’ll be adding to those type of memories! I was not nine. I was in college at the time, and sat in the main reserves along the third base line. (I have every ticket from every game I’ve attended in my life, so I just checked.) Those were… Read more »

MikeD
MikeD
11 years ago
Reply to  MikeD

..oh, and the main reserve tickets in 1983 cost all of $7.50. I also ran across a game one 1981 World Series ticket. Bleachers, $4.00. Or was if $5.00? Forgot already. Yup, times have changed much faster than inflation!

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  MikeD

MikeD – I remember going to an NBA playoff basketball game for my 21st birthday. This was in 1990. There were three price levels of tickets available and we went with the mid-level. Cost…$10. Yep, times have definitely changed!

no statistician but
no statistician but
11 years ago
Reply to  MikeD

Mike and Ed: The trip and game I recalled at #5 above cost $8 per person total—i.e., the bus ride to and from Danville—about 140 miles each way—the zoo (free), and the game, good grandstand seats. Food wasn’t included. My parents gave my brother and me $2 each for the two meals and any souvenirs, and we had some pocket change of our own, I think. Sounds like a small sum now, but $20 out of our family’s weekly budget was no joke then. One last note: The next time I visited the Brookfield Zoo was with my future wife… Read more »

no statistician but
no statistician but
11 years ago

N.B.: Anyone who wants to make a joke about the zoo-wedding juxtaposition above may do so if he or she got married before 1969 and still is to married to the same partner in crime. Others need not apply.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
11 years ago
Reply to  MikeD

I had a 16 game winning streak in 87-88 – and those were not great teams.
It started with the game against Boston/Clemens where the Yanx were down 9-0 after 2 innings,

Every one of those games were in the RF bleachers, and I swear the rallies generated out there made a difference on the field. Felt good to be magic. And to be a complete jerk in unison with 200 other complete jerks:
“Danny Heep of shit, clap clap. Danny Heep of shit, clap clap.”

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago

The first game I remember seeing was on Friday night June 11, 1948 when I was 9 years old. (I saw games in 1947 but don’t remember any of them.) It was at Yankee Stadium when the Yankees took on the Indians. I remember only two particular at bats in that game. My father and I had seats behind the plate on the first base side with a view looking directly down the left field foul line. Going into the bottom of the 9th the Tribe had a 10-6 lead. With two out and no one on came the first… Read more »

Doug
Doug
11 years ago

Yankee attendance was all over the map that year. That Indians game was at the tail-end of a 15-game homestand. The Browns had been in town before Cleveland and attracted crowds of 7 and 9 thousand, and also 56,000 for the Sunday double-header. The preceding Friday was also big (64,000 for Detroit), as was Tue, Jun 30 against Boston (70,000) but not the following July 4th against Washington (only 27,000), but big again for Wed, July 7th against Philly (62,000).

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

The Yankees played before crowds of 60,000+ that year 22 times, 18 at the Stadium and 4 at Cleveland. They had 6 crowds of 70,000+, 3 at the Stadium and 3 at Cleveland.
The Indians played before crowds of 60,000+ 19 times, 14 at home and 5 at Yankee Stadium. They played before crowds of 70,000+ 11 times, all at home. Top attendance was 82,871.

Jason Z
11 years ago

1948 Actually marked the culmination of a post war
attendance boom.

Total MLB attendance was 10.8 million in 1945.

That grew to 18.5, 19.8 and 20.9 million in 1948.

1948 was also the year that the Indians set the single
season team record at 2.6 million.

Total MLB attendance would not surpass 1948 totals
until 1962 (expansion).

Well known are the two factors that contributed mightily to this, the increase of games on TV
and suburban flight.

Doug
Doug
11 years ago

Interesting thing about Sherm Lollar’s short time with New York. Started only 14 regular seasons games at catcher over two seasons, but still got two starts in the 1947 Series.

The Yankees used 3 starting catchers in that series – Berra for games 1, 2 and 4, Lollar for 3 and 6, and Robinson for 5 and 7. Not to be outdone, Brooklyn used 6 different starting pitchers in that 7-game series.

Artie Z.
Artie Z.
11 years ago

In my first game (at least my first regular season game – living down in Florida I had been to spring training games) I managed to see a complete game shutout by Steve Avery in 1992. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL199206150.shtml Avery gave up five hits, and two of those were to Hershiser. Then Lasorda pinch hit for Hershiser, which I didn’t really understand because he had two hits (Benzinger did hit a double as the pinch hitter). Hershiser and Candelaria only gave up four hits, and one was by Avery, so of the nine hits on the day three were by pitchers. The… Read more »

Doug
Doug
11 years ago
Reply to  Artie Z.

I’ve also been to Yankee Stadium just once. I remember the date (Aug 6, 1978) because Pope Paul VI died that day (it would also be my wedding day some years later, but not for any connection to Yankee Stadium). Two future HOFers were on the mound as Catfish Hunter shut out the Orioles and Jim Palmer by a 3-0 count.

Brooklyn MIck
Brooklyn MIck
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

“Well that (Pope Paul VI passing away) kind of puts the damper on even a Yankee win.” ~ Phil Rizzuto (August 6, 1978)

oneblankspace
oneblankspace
11 years ago
Reply to  Artie Z.

I can top that — my first three MLB games were complete game shutouts, all at Wrigley. Valenzuela threw an 8-hitter against Fergie Jenkins: (30 May 1982) Later that season, Doug Bird 3-hit the Mets (I do not remember the triple play): (3 August 1982) The following year, I saw Johnny Bench’s last game in Chicago. I did not see the Reds get any hits in the game, but as I walked into the men’s room in the top of the 9th, I heard Lou Boudreau say “There goes the no-hitter” on the radio broadcast. (24 August 1983) Rainey was… Read more »

Andy R
Andy R
11 years ago

Great post, Stacey! My first was a doubleheader also- Cubs at Giants, 9/12/1965. I recently looked it up and realized that all I remembered about the games was Warren Spahn getting his final major league victory, and Willie Mays hitting HR #499 (#500 came the next night in Houston). I loved Candlestick Park as a kid, and tolerated it as an adult, but I’ll still shed a few tears in a couple of years when the 49ers move out and it’s torn down. It may have been a dump, but it was MY dump!

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
11 years ago

My first game was, I say with a hair of embarrassment, actually a Mets game at Shea.
I think my Dad just took the easier drive from where we lived in Queens at the time.

I’m almost certain this was 1981.

About a year ago I hunted for the boxscore at b-r.
Easy enough, as I remember clearly that the Mets beat the Pirates 3-2 on a Joel Youngblood three run homer in the 7th inning.

However, research indicates that Joel Youngblood never hit a three run shot vs the Pirates.

So so much for that memory.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
11 years ago

The majority of the stadiums that I’ve gone to no longer exist, including: Yankee Stadium Shea Candlestick Astrodome Kingdome The Kingdome game was special. Randy Johnson 2-hitter with 15 K I had just spent a week naked at Harbin Hot Springs, where I got a raging case of poison oak, like, everywhere. Northern California poison oak is very much a sentient being, and besides the crawling rash it will merge with your consciousness and you will begin thinking like a plant. Well, the plant consciousness told me to shave my head. Never done that before. Went down to skin, with… Read more »

Doug
Doug
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

I’m with you, Voomo.

Most of the stadiums I’ve been to don’t exist or don’t have baseball anymore. Let’s see.

Kingdome
Candlestick
Jack Murphy
Astrodome
Metropolitan (Minnesota)
Old Comiskey
Tiger
Municipal (Cleveland)
Riverfront
Three Rivers
Yankee
Fulton County
Jarry
Olympic
Exhibition (Toronto)

I think that’s it.

The other list of stadiums I’ve been to where they’re still playing ball. Much shorter.

Safeco
Oakland-Alameda
Dodger
Anaheim
Wrigley
Fenway

Time for another road trip.

Jason Z
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

Yankee Stadium II
Shea Stadium I
Atlanta Fulton Co.
County Stadium, Milwaukee
Old Tiger Stadium
Old Comiskey
Wrigley
Riverfront
Three Rivers
New STL (06 WS)
Joe Robbie
Municipal

Hartvig
Hartvig
11 years ago

I’m afraid that most of the details of my first game are pretty fuzzy. My next door neighbor made the 8 hour drive (in those days) from our home to Metropolitan Stadium in Minneapolis with his son and my 6 year old self during the Twins inaugural 1961 season to watch them play the Yankees. I have a few pictures in my mind of walking up to the stadium (by FAR the largest structure that I had ever laid eyes on), of the crowd (again- by FAR the largest gathering of people that I had seen in person), of the… Read more »

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
11 years ago
Reply to  Hartvig

8 hour drive, and you got there early for a day game?
That’s hardcore.

Steven
Steven
11 years ago

The grass is always greener at the ballpark. That was the first thing I noticed on June 5, 1965 at Busch (formerly Sportsman’s Park) Stadium in St. Louis. First player I remember seeing was Bob Purkey, only because the name was on his back. The colors were especially bright that day, probably because our television was a mid-1950s black-and-white Philco. 19-year-old Larry Dierker started against 80-year-old Curt Simmons. Without going to the BR boxscore(I still have that day’s scorecard, by the way), I remember Phil Gagliano hitting a home run, and Ken Boyer hitting a triple. 4-3, Cardinals. What a… Read more »

Jason Z
11 years ago

My first game was April 24, 1976. It was game #7 at Yankee Stadium II and the Cub Scouts from White Plains, of which I was one, came to the game. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA197604240.shtml The Yankees beat the Royals 9-8 in 11 innings on a beautiful spring Saturday in the Bronx. The first pitch was thrown at 2:03. The game was played in a modern like 3:53. Sparky Lyle picked up his second win of the season. He pitched the last FIVE innings. The teams combined for 17 runs and 28 hits. No homers. The Yankees The Royals Mickey Rivers Jim Wohlford… Read more »

MikeD
MikeD
11 years ago
Reply to  Jason Z

The Yankees handicapped themselves in the battle of All Stars by having Jim Mason in the lineup that day. I still believe Jim Mason was one of the most hated Yankees of that time. He seemingly was booed before he could get his head out of the dugout.

Jason Z
11 years ago
Reply to  MikeD

Otto Velez pinch hit for Mason in the home half of the 8th.

The immortal Fred “Chicken” Stanley came in to play SS
in the 9th.

If I recall properly, Billy Martin, who was loyal to his
players, loved the chicken. Hated Reggie. Loved the chicken.

Maybe this is one reason that Billy, for all his great
managing, only won one World Series.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
11 years ago
Reply to  Jason Z

I think 6 division titles in parts of 16 years with four different franchises is pretty great.

Won 97 in his rookie (managing) year, and ran into the ’69 Orioles in the ALCS
Won the division three years later with the Tigers and ran in to the ’72 Athletics.

Won the pennant in ’76 and ran into the Red Machine.
Won it all in ’77
And was fired in ’78, while in 1st place.

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Yankees weren’t in 1st when Martin was fired in ’78. I realize his manager page says they were but it’s not accurate. If you look at the schedule/results page, the Yankees were in 3rd place, 10 games out.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/NYY/1978-schedule-scores.shtml

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Voomo: In 1978 Martin was fired on July 23 when the Yankees were in 4th place, 10 GB the Red Sox. They didn’t make it to first place until September 10th at the conclusion of the Boston Massacre, a 4-game sweep at Fenway.

Jason Z
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

I agree. I said only “won one WS”. I think Billy was a great manager. If he could have coexisted with George I think Billy could have had a Hall of Fame caliber managerial career. Imagine if Billy had managed for 15 seasons from when he took over in 1975. I can make a strong case that in addition to 77, he wins in 78, 80 and 81. Additionally, I think the Yankees are strong World Series contenders in 83,85 and 86. I never meant to bring Billy’s managerial genius into question. I merely pointed out that Billy could and… Read more »

Jason Z
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

On July 17, 1978 the Yankee lost to the KC Royal by a score of 9-7. They were in fourth place in the AL East at 47-42. 14GB behind the Bosox. This is the game where Reggie Jackson defied Billy Martin and attempted a bunt with two strikes in the bottom of the tenth inning. Thurman Munson had opened the inning with a single. Jackson came up having not successfully sacrificed since 1972 I think. With two strike Billy pulled the bunt, but Reggie bunted anyway and popped it to the catcher. After the game a furious Bill flew into… Read more »

Jason Z
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

One final thought on 1978.

It is common for folks to say that Boston choked.

As someone who proudly hates, but respects, the Red Sox, let me remind everyone that they won their last eight games straight to force the famous game. That is not a choke!

The Yankees were injured early and fell far behind. The Red Sox were injured after the All-Star game and the Yankees caught up.

At the end, both were mostly healthy and clearly the two best teams in baseball that year.

Voomo Zanzibar
Voomo Zanzibar
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

@54, 55

Thanks.
I was five years old – don’t have a memory of it – and yes, I did a very quick b-r query for that info.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Continuing from my post #55 I hope you all don’t mind this diversion. As long as we are on the subject of corrections let me point out something I came across yesterday. I saw the movie “Jack Reacher” with Tom Cruise in the title role. In the course of the movie Cruise intentionally mis-identified himself as Jimmie Reese. It was mentioned that it (Reese) was the name of a Yankee 2nd baseman in 1925. Being the good Yankee fan that I am I knew immediately that that was a lot of hooey. Reese played for the Yankees in 1930 and… Read more »

MikeD
MikeD
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Billy was no doubt a great manager, one who falls into that small bucket of in-game managers who made his teams better. He was the 10th man on the field. Unfortunately, Billy also was his own worst enemy, which is why he was never able to build a HOF career managing, even though it was right there for his taking. For all that he brought, I can’t get past all he did wrong, including his constant battles with his boss, The Boss, George, and even more so his handling of Reggie. Even as a kid, I remember thinking he had… Read more »

Ed
Ed
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

If anyone doubts that Martin was a great manager, take a look at how his teams did the year before and the year after. It’s pretty amazing. And he did it in a time when free agency didn’t exist/was much smaller than today.

MikeD
MikeD
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

@59 Jason and @63 Ed — Jason, first. I agree. It’s one of the reasons I always recoil a bit from the word “choke.” It’s a very emotional word that is mostly used as an inslut. Most teams at this level don’t choke, but they can collapse driven by circumstances, including and usually injury or early over performance and the water eventually seeking it’s level. The Red Sox and Yankees played to game 163. Yankees were injured at the start. The Red Sox were injured later. It’s not as if that Red Sox team was going to go on to… Read more »

Jason Z
11 years ago
Reply to  Voomo Zanzibar

Mike D, interesting your thoughts on Billy. We seem to think alike. I don’t think George would have brought Billy back in 96. My reason is solely based on the fact that after returning from suspension in 93, we Yankee fans were blessed with what seemed to be a kinder gentler George. Much more relevant however was that it seemed to me that he began to trust his baseball people more than in the past. The stability under Joe Torre was something Yankee fans never expected under George. Also, the reliance on young players developed in the farm system, and… Read more »

Kenny
Kenny
11 years ago

I remember the first game I ever went to. It too was at Yankee Stadium, and I was about 5 or 6 years old, and I was taken there by my father. What do I remember about the game? Not much, except that I did see #5 Joe DiMaggio on deck….does that suggest I’m a bit older than most of those on this blog?

kds
kds
11 years ago

Stacy dear, in your story of your illness and the losing game, you got the arrow of causation reversed. Your illness did make the Yankees lose, instead their loss made you ill, sensitive girl that you were.

Quiz: What do the following cities have in common? DC, LA, Miami, Minn-SP, Montreal, SD, SF. (I think this list is complete, but not 100% sure.) This list includes the first MLB game(s) I went to, likely before Stacy’s parents had even met.

Hartvig
Hartvig
11 years ago
Reply to  kds

3 are franchise relocations- 4 are expansion teams- 2 are both- 5 are national league- 1 is american league- 2 and soon to be 3 are both…

Not seeing what it is

I suspect they’re all teams that a specific player played for, maybe?

kds
kds
11 years ago

Add Houston to the list above.

deal
11 years ago

August 8 1977 – Sunday Day Game – perfect weather

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI197708070.shtml

2 HoF starters – The game includes players who’s careers span 1959 thru 1994.

Someday will get around to writing more on this game. Only play I remember is Davey Lopes getting picked off by Carlton.

Chuck
Chuck
11 years ago

First games..doubleheader at the Stadium July 30, 1967

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196707301.shtml

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196707302.shtml

I was ten, my little brother nine. We drove down from CT. My parents didn’t tell us where we were going until right after we passed the Stadium on the Deegan, at that point the secret was out of the bag.

It was also Bat Day.

We got a little 24 inch bat..a Jake Gibbs model.

Mike L
Mike L
11 years ago

Ok, I’ll put up my then eight year old son’s first game. July 16, 2000 against the Phillies. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA200007160.shtml We went with a friend. Pettitte started and had nothing. He was pulled in the third after giving up five runs on nine hits and two walks. He was relived by Gooden, who was very solid for 5/13, giving up just one more run. Yankees were down 6-1 going into the bottom of the ninth, and the three of us started to move back. We end up in a group of Phillies fans, and since my son is still at the… Read more »

Steven
Steven
11 years ago

There may be a Yankee fan or two among the followers of this blog. Merry Christmas.

e pluribus munu
e pluribus munu
11 years ago

I was unlucky again to have missed a great post when it was timely to contribute a response – a great idea, Stavey – but I was very lucky in my first game, so I’ll see whether I can add a link to it here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195609300.shtml I’ve written about it before on HHS, so I’ll try to be less windy in recounting it: It was at Ebbets Field, the Pirates visiting, the last day of the season, and the pennant on the line for Brooklyn. The highlights that I recall were seeing Jackie Robinson at the start of the game… Read more »

Doug
Editor
11 years ago

Robinson homered in his final game, joining the Splinter and others. Too bad that isn’t a query that can be run with P-I.

Exactly 10 years later, on Sep 30, 1966, second baseman Junior Gilliam would play his final game.

Richard Chester
Richard Chester
11 years ago
Reply to  Doug

Baseball Almanac has a list of 45 players who homered in their last at-bat.

Chuck Conrad
Chuck Conrad
11 years ago

I remember my first game. It was at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas. A game that featured the hometown Astros playing the St. Louis Cardinals. Three things stand out in my memory of the game. One, the sheer size of the dome on the inside. It seemed HUGE. Two, the air conditioning was real nice, a welcome break from the southeast Texas summer heat. And, most of all, the game was won by a José Cruz walk-off home run to win the game for Houston. My mother, to this day, remembers this because she had to take my sister to… Read more »

GrandyMan
GrandyMan
11 years ago

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA199809260.shtml I arrived in the Bronx on September 26th, 1998, as the result of a happy accident. My father laid out plans sometime in July or August for the three of us – my father, mother, and me – to take a bus from Wilkes-Barre to Yankee Stadium, which is about a three-hour drive with stops and traffic. I was probably supposed to go to this game, or perhaps an August 15th game against the Rangers. Everything was going as planned until my mother, from whom I inherited my propensity for forgetfulness, missed the deadline to purchase the bus tickets.… Read more »

John Autin
Editor
11 years ago

Richard @61 — The fault in the “Reacher” Reese reference belongs to the Hollywood adaptation, not to author Lee Child. From “One Shot,” the 9th Reacher novel: “Reacher checked into a downtown hotel called the Metropole Palace…. He paid cash up front for one night only and used the name Jimmy Reese. He had cycled through all the presidents and vice presidents long ago and was now using second basemen from the Yankees’ non championship years. Jimmy Reese had played pretty well during part of 1930 and pretty badly during part of 1931. He had come from nowhere and moved… Read more »

Bryan O'Connor
Editor
11 years ago

I don’t remember my first game, though it was almost certainly an Expos game at Stade Olympique, probably in 1987. I used to keep score for the six or seven innings we watched after inevitably showing up late after the 2 1/2-hour drive from upstate New York. No idea where those scorebooks ended up.

I do remember the first game I didn’t watch- a rainout at Dodger Stadium in 1988. Here’s an accounting of the many rainouts, player strikes, and ill-timed business trips that have kept me from watching games at various parks.