I've posted this forum topic in honor of opening day.  What I envision for the thread is in the title, though I don't get too worked up about pictures of waffles.  I love hearing stories about the first game a fellow baseball fan has attended, the first bad hop you took to the teeth, that April day in high school when you, miraculously, threw a no hitter to lower your ERA to somewhere below 5.  Stories about watching your young'un hit a game winning double and photos of some nut in the bleachers at Kaufmann are always among my favorites.

I'll let a better story-teller than me start it off.  Ernie Harwell always began every opening day Tiger's broadcast with the following: 

"For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;
the flowers appear on the earth;
the time of the singing of birds is come,
and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land."

Farewell to Duke Snider and Sparky Anderson ... baseball legends departed this opening day.

It was somewhere in the middle innings and I was finally getting to pitch a little despite the coach's penchant for putting his son's slowball on display (yeah, I'm still bitter lol). We were facing the best team in the league and their best hitter was at the plate, and I had him at 3-2. I released the next pitch and I knew it was slightly wild, and as it neared him I was not only sure it was a ball but that I might hit him. It was at about belly level and inside--he swung--and the ball sailed by just above his fists. Out!

He brought the bat down hard on the plate and stalked back to the dugout. Hooray for me! Nevertheless I didn't see much action on the mound. For some reason the umpires thought my delivery was balky although the umpires in the lower league never called me on it for the two years I pitched there. So, it was back to watching from center field the coach's son deliver that painfully slow ball to the batters. Oh well. It kept me busy.

P.S. From my 12th summer. Just little kids.

glad to see the boys in blue snag a win today.  brandon belt will be replaced by that girl aubrey by mid-may at first.

dodgers wearing a small number 4 on the sleeve.  rip the duke of the flatbush.

didn't get ot hear vin today--game on espn.  tomorrow i'll hear him.  all my opening days seem to mesh together in memory.  been to a few live--love that.  2 years ago went with my then 5 year old son.  what a treat.  the dodgers lost.  the bums!

My favorite attendance at a baseball game was a Tiger's game. After driving three hours to get to the game, the game was continuously interrupted by rain. As the fair weather fans left the ball park, those of us who remained watched as thirty stadium employees tried to cover up the field. Their ineptness was by far the most entertaining part of the game. To top a great game off the Tigers kicked ass unlike yesterday!

It is not opening day story but I will tell anyway.

The wife and I got married September 19,2010. Here is back story.

In September of 2010 I planned a 4 day trip to Boston with my present wife (corrijean). There were many exciting things planned, the greatest of which were 2 games with the Red Sox taking on the Angels. I had the second game in my pocket just in case I had to call an audible in the first game.

So, here we go. It was September 16, 2009 and the plan was to ask her during 7th game stretch. I did so, she accepted and we continued to watch last 2.5 innings as an engaged couple.

Flash forward to bottom of the ninth (there were other exciting moments but mostly in the Angels favor). No outs, bottom of the ninth and the Angels lead 8-7. No baserunners either. Next thing you know the bases are loaded and the batter has a 3-2 count (remember, they are down by 1 but only one out to play with). A controversial ball 4 ties the game. And then, well, I will led video tell the rest of the story.

You can skip to about 1:35 to get right to the good stuff.

Great story, and seats, Stats!

Game Played on Wednesday, September 16, 2009 (N) at Fenway Park

ANA A    0  0  1    0  1  1    4  0  1  -   8 17  1
BOS A    0  0  0    0  0  5    0  2  2  -   9 13  1

BATTING

Anaheim Angels               AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO      PO   A
Figgins 3b                    6   1   2   0       0   2       0   2
Aybar ss                      6   1   4   1       0   0       5   5
Abreu rf                      5   0   3   2       1   0       0   0
Guerrero dh                   3   1   0   0       0   1       0   0
Quinlan ph,dh               0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Izturis ph,dh               2   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Hunter cf                     4   1   2   1       1   0       2   0
Morales 1b                    5   1   0   0       0   3      10   0
Kendrick 2b                   5   1   2   1       0   1       2   6
Rivera lf                     5   2   3   2       0   0       1   0
Napoli c                      4   0   1   1       1   1       6   0
Saunders p                    0   0   0   0       0   0       0   1
Bulger p                    0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Jepsen p                    0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Oliver p                    0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Fuentes p                   0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Totals                       45   8  17   8       3   8      26  14

FIELDING - 
DP: 2. Kendrick-Aybar-Morales, Kendrick-Aybar-Morales.
E: Aybar (10).

BATTING - 
2B: Hunter (23,off Byrd); Abreu (27,off Byrd); Kendrick (18,off Byrd); Rivera
(23,off Ramirez); Napoli (21,off Ramirez).
HR: Hunter (22,6th inning off Byrd 0 on 0 out).
HBP: Guerrero (4,by Saito).
IBB: Hunter (4,by Delcarmen).
Team LOB: 14.

BASERUNNING - 
SB: Abreu (29,2nd base off Delcarmen/Varitek).

Boston Red Sox               AB   R   H RBI      BB  SO      PO   A
Ellsbury cf                   4   1   2   1       1   1       2   0
Pedroia 2b                    5   1   1   0       0   0       4   0
Bay lf                        5   1   2   2       0   0       4   0
Lowell 3b                     5   0   1   0       0   1       1   2
Ortiz dh                      3   2   1   0       2   1       0   0
Gathright pr,dh             0   1   0   0       0   0       0   0
Baldelli rf                   3   1   1   1       0   1       0   0
Anderson rf                 0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Drew ph,rf                  1   1   1   0       1   0       0   0
Varitek c                     2   0   0   0       1   1       7   0
Reddick ph                  1   1   0   0       0   0       0   0
Brown c                     0   0   0   0       0   0       0   1
Lowrie ph                   1   0   1   0       0   0       0   0
Kotchman 1b                   4   0   1   1       0   1       7   0
Green ph                    0   0   0   1       1   0       0   0
A. Gonzalez ss                3   0   2   3       1   0       2   2
Byrd p                        0   0   0   0       0   0       0   1
Saito p                     0   0   0   0       0   0       0   1
Ramirez p                   0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Okajima p                   0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Delcarmen p                 0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Bard p                      0   0   0   0       0   0       0   0
Totals                       37   9  13   9       7   6      27   7

FIELDING - 
E: Baldelli (3).
PB: Varitek (1).

BATTING - 
2B: Kotchman (2,off Saunders); Pedroia (44,off Saunders).
SH: A. Gonzalez (4,off Saunders).
GDP: Pedroia (18,off Saunders); Baldelli (6,off Saunders).
Team LOB: 10.

BASERUNNING - 
SB: Bay (13,2nd base off Saunders/Napoli).

PITCHING

Anaheim Angels               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP
Saunders                      5.2   8   5   2   3   5   0  27
Bulger                        0.1   0   0   0   0   1   0   1
Jepsen                        1.1   1   2   2   1   0   0   6
Oliver                        0.2   1   0   0   1   0   0   4
Fuentes L(1-5)                0.2   3   2   2   2   0   0   7
Totals                        8.2  13   9   6   7   6   0  45

WP: Oliver (6).

Boston Red Sox               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP
Byrd                          5.1   9   3   3   1   4   1  26
Saito                         1     0   1   0   1   0   0   5
Ramirez                       0.1   3   3   0   0   1   0   5
Okajima                       0.1   2   0   0   0   1   0   3
Delcarmen                     1     0   0   0   1   2   0   4
Bard W(2-1)                   1     3   1   1   0   0   0   6
Totals                        9    17   8   4   3   8   1  49

Okajima faced 2 batters in the 8th inning
HBP: Saito (5,Guerrero).
IBB: Delcarmen (3,Hunter).

Umpires: HP - Rick Reed, 1B - Jeff Kellogg, 2B - Tim Timmons, 3B - Mark Wegner

Time of Game: 4:07   Attendance: 37706

I think it was a Sunday afternoon day in either August or July.  It was a ball game in old Tiger Stadium--built the same year as Fenway--where I saw something very rare, if not previously unseen.  I had a great view of the critical moment, maybe the best in the ballpark.

It was a windy day with a high sun--typical of a Sunday afternoon game at the old park.  My brother and I were sitting against the rail in the right-field overhang.  We were sitting above Kaline's corner watching the Angels play a Tiger team that we were convinced was full of potential.  Clark, Easley, Cruz, some bum at third, Higgy, Hunter, and the Latino Bambino, Karim Garcia.  Justin Thompson was the next Lefty Grove, and Todd Jones was our Roller Coaster in the ninth.  We knew it was just a matter of time before they would make their first of many World Series appearances.  And this was late summer, mind, when they were, likely, a few games under .500.  Not too many folks would classify either me nor my brother as optimists, but it's the Tigers.  The Tigers Rule!

It was either Edmonds or Salmon who hit a high fly to right--the batter was left handed and I'm not sure which side Salmon swung the bat from.  The ball passed about a foot below the facing of the overhang, which we overhung to keep our eyes on the ball.  The ball, and Higgy, disappeared from our view, so we looked at the ump in shallow center.  He was signaling a homer.  We were bummed, then Higgy, with Hunter in tow, came back into view at a full sprint.  He was holding a baseball in his glove above his head as he ran towards the ump, hollerin' arguments that we couldn't quite hear.

It was the only in-the-glove homer I've ever witnessed.

The seats were 7 rows back on first base line and cost an arm and a leg, let me tell you.

The back-up plan was the second game (if the Sox were getting blown out). For that game, we had seats in the right field bleachers, with view obstructed by big metal pole. So things worked great.

See those 4 runs in the top of the 7th? They all came with 2 outs, with my sweaty palm on ring, anxiously awaiting the final out of inning whic Included a passed ball on a strike 3 that would have been the third out.

Oh, and I had my friend record the game for me. Might be about time to give it a watch.

So the OF caught the ball, but they awarded a homer? Or ddi the glove go over the fence with ball?

Now-a-days they can review that.

The contention of the umpire, who was a country mile away, was that the ball hit the facing of the upper-deck on its way down.

Does it happen to be recent enough that it would be in the mlb.com archives? Anything past 2006 can usually be found.

No way, man.  I've been looking for it, myself.  It was in 1998.

Your clue that it was the Old Tiger Stadium means it was too many years ago.

1998!! Such a primitive time.

I remember when I used to be able to record games (on VHS) that I attended (as a kid), and then watch again when I got home. Now, I could get real time highlights from my seat if I wanted to on my phone.

Not only primitive, but hard times for the Tigers.  They finished in the basement with a measley 65 wins, after giving us some hope the previous year when they finished 79-83, one game ahead of the Red Sox.  I figured the move to the central division would make 'em better.

Wrong, again.

1983 all-star game, which was played 50 years to the day after the first all-star game ever.  In the summer of 1983 I had my undergrad geology field camp which ran 7 weeks or so, and for the portion surrounding the all-star game we were lodged in a dorm at a university near our fieldwork area, so we had access to television in the lounge.  I was always an Expos fan (I pull for the Nats now) and everyone at our field camp knew it because I wore an Expos cap in the field every day, and I might have mentioned to people once or twice that the Expos had some good players that year.

When it came time for the all-star game I couldn't believe it-- the Expos had 4 starters for the National League!  Gary Carter at catcher, Al Oliver at 1st, and Andre Dawson and Tim Raines in the outfield.  Plus, Expo Steve Rogers was pitching.

Now, going into that year, a win for the National League was pretty much assumed to be a given.  After all, the NL had won the last 11 straight all-star games, and 18 of the previous 19.

Those of you who have run into me around the forums know that I'm a meek, quiet kind of guy, not at all the sort of person who for days prior to the game would make loud comments about the dominance of the National League and the wisdom of stuffing the starting line-up with Expos players.  Nope. Not me.  

The field camp directors had scheduled a rest day for the all-star game, and there was a big group of us gathered in the lounge to watch the game, fully equipped with a keg a few feet away, and just outside the door a grill churning out hotdogs.

Then the carnage started.  By the time it was over, so was the NL winning streak.  What happened?

• The 13 runs scored by the American League set a new record for the all-star game.
• The 10-run winning margin was the largest in 37 years
• The 3rd inning home run by Fred Lynn is still the only grand slam home run in all-star history.  It flew into the stands after sailing far above the head of an Expos outfielder.

As the afternoon wore on I sank down lower and lower into my couch seat as, inexplicably, various hoots and catcalls seemed to be directed at me from all about the lounge.

The next couple days were tough.

And after 36 seasons the Expos finally faded away with only one post-season appearance ever (1981), and even then they couldn't get past the NL championship round.

I think you all are funning with us about having good baseball memories.  It just isn't possible! 

The Sunday after my 11th birthday my Father picked me up outside the church after Sunday school. He surprised me with a trip to Yankee Stadium to see the Yankees and the Red Sox. I saw Mickey Mantle play in what would be his final month in the majors. Mantle went 0 for 4, but managed to reach first base on an error and the stadium errupted like he'd homered. The Yankees lost 5 to 1, but I will always treasure that afternoon I got to see the Mick play.

Hey folks, did you see this lawsuit announcement?  It'll probably take about 2 seconds for a judge to throw it out, but if it somehow managed to prevail I can't think of a better team for a target . . . 

Thanks for the info on Crazy Crab.  The paragraph on him at Wikipedia is worth a read for more details, including the efforts of RehabTheCrab.com to bring him back as a mascot.  There are a few good stories at the RehabTheCrab site.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Crab#Crazy_Crab