In Honor of the Baseball All Star Game

[Idnar7]

What are some of your favorite memories? My time frame is the 60's and 70's

1. The miracle plays by Ozzie Smith at shortstop
2. Juan Marichal with his leg kick
3. Brooks Robinson fielding everything hit towards him
4. Harmon Killebrew with his might swing
5. Mark Fidrich SP? the Bird
6. Willie Mays with his back to the plate catches
7. Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale as the best pitching combo since Spann & Sain
8. Francisco Velenueza sp?
9. Roberto Clemente
10. The Yankees

Bonus Kirby Puckett

Others you wish to add (any time frame)?

I went to my first game in 1961 wearing my glove the whole game even though we were in the third deck.

 

[RunningBum]

Fidrych, and Fernando, for 5 & 8.


Dave Kingman for the mighty, mighty swing.


Al Hrabosky, "The Mad Hungarian", psyching himself up before facing a batter.


Oscar Gamble's hair.


Carlton Fisk's game 6 homer.


Kirk Gibson's homer off of Eck.

 

[Bigdawg]

What are some of your favorite memories? My time frame is the 60's and 70's

1. The miracle plays by Ozzie Smith at shortstop
2. Juan Marichal with his leg kick
3. Brooks Robinson fielding everything hit towards him
4. Harmon Killebrew with his might swing
5. Mark Fidrich SP? the Bird
6. Willie Mays with his back to the plate catches
7. Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale as the best pitching combo since Spann & Sain
8. Francisco Velenueza sp?
9. Roberto Clemente
10. The Yankees

Bonus Kirby Puckett

Others you wish to add (any time frame)?

I went to my first game in 1961 wearing my glove the whole game even though we were in the third deck.

Killebrew and Puckett mentioned in the same post. Must be a Minnesota guy. Spent a lot of time at the old Met as a kid. Knot hole days. Good times. In college in St Paul in 87 when they won it all.

 

[Idnar7]

Bigdawg, very observant. My dad used to drop us off for double headers. All day for less than a dollar. Fan appreciation day they would give out mini wood bats. The kids would bang then on the railings. Alas I was in TX in 87 but back for '91. Jack Morris pitching 10 innings in a 1-0 win in game 7.

 

[scrabbler1]

Chambliss's homerun to win the 1976 AL pennant; Reggie's 3 homeruns in the 77 WS. Bucky Dent's HR against Boston in 78. Righetti's no-hitter on July 4th, 1983.

 

[Scrapr]

If we are talking ASG then Dave Parker in RF in Seattle. He truly was a giant that day

edit: I forgot the "tie game" What a disaster that was. I was watching and thinking how are they going to get out of this jam. The only logical answer would have been position player takes the hill. It would have been awesome! Every position player thinks they can pitch. And every pitcher thinks he can hit. Boffo ratings

Bud Selig I h8 you

 

[jollystomper]

Not necessarily a favorite, but definitely memorable for an All Star game: the Pete Rose-Ray Fosse home plate collision.

 

[candrew]

'68 World Series

How about the Detroit Tigers' "Rolley Polley" Mickey Lolich pitching game 7 of the 1968 World Series, doing it on two day's rest and going the full 9 innings to beat Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals?!

I don't believe a starting pitcher has equaled that feat in a World Series since and it is doubtful anyone will ever again. Lolich not only won all 3 of his starts but also managed to hit a home run.

The Tigers were down 3 games to 1 in that series and gasping on life support. IMO, the play that turned the series for Detroit was Willie Horton throwing out Lou Brock from left field in a play at the plate in game 5.

The Tigers won that World Series game 7 on my birthday, no less!

 

[candrew]

Not necessarily a favorite, but definitely memorable for an All Star game: the Pete Rose-Ray Fosse home plate collision.

It was found later, after the season was completed, that Fosse separated his shoulder as a result of the collision (it never healed properly). Fosse finished the season and won a Gold Glove award!

 

[candrew]

Bigdawg, very observant. My dad used to drop us off for double headers. All day for less than a dollar. Fan appreciation day they would give out mini wood bats. The kids would bang then on the railings. Alas I was in TX in 87 but back for '91. Jack Morris pitching 10 innings in a 1-0 win in game 7.

Your post must be reminiscing about Tiger Stadium. On some Saturdays during the summer, there was "Ladies & Retirees day". Ladies, retirees and kids under 16 got in for 75 cents. If you were lucky, the Tigers played a double-header that day.

We'd pack a brown bag lunch of PB&J, bring a can of Faygo red-pop, ride the bus down Michigan avenue to Trumbull for 25 cents and have ourselves a great day.

All for about a buck!

And if we were lucky, maybe get an autograph after the game hanging around the players' parking lot.

 

[jollystomper]

Bigdawg, very observant. My dad used to drop us off for double headers.

Double headers in general are another memory. They have all but vanished, as the business aspect of baseball grows.

"It's a beautiful day for a ballgame ... Let's play two!" - Ernie Banks

 

[eytonxav]

>Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium
>Yogi-isms
>Dodgers leaving NY
>Being in the dentist's chair when Mazeroski hit his walk off HR in 1960 series
>Seeing Nolan Ryan pitch as a Met's rookie, watching from the stands he had the best stuff I had ever seen.
>Huge Homer's by the Mick
>Burt Blyleven's curveball
>Attending Kenny Rogers perfect game, later had our tickets autographed by Kenny, Pudge, Rusty, Juan
>My aunt giving me a baseball autographed by Roger Maris
>a triple play
>Willie Mays catch in center field in the Polo grounds
>Jimmy Piersall kicking a fan in the butt when he ran on the field

 

[jjquantz]

2 hour baseball games

 

[wrigley]

My first child (daughter) was born on the day Pete Rose broke Ty Cobb's hits record!

Mike

 

[RunningBum]

How about the Detroit Tigers' "Rolley Polley" Mickey Lolich pitching game 7 of the 1968 World Series, doing it on two day's rest and going the full 9 innings to beat Bob Gibson and the St. Louis Cardinals?!

I don't believe a starting pitcher has equaled that feat in a World Series since and it is doubtful anyone will ever again. Lolich not only won all 3 of his starts but also managed to hit a home run.

The Tigers were down 3 games to 1 in that series and gasping on life support. IMO, the play that turned the series for Detroit was Willie Horton throwing out Lou Brock from left field in a play at the plate in game 5.

The Tigers won that World Series game 7 on my birthday, no less!

That was a great series. Gibson went 3-0 the year before, though in games 1, 4, and 7, so three days rest, the usual back in the day. Gibby had beat 31-game winner McLain twice already in 68, including a 17 strikeout shutout in the opener.

The only 3 game WS winner since was Randy Johnson, starting games 2 and 6 and relieving in game 7. Bumgarner got 2 wins and a 5 inning save in 2014.

Of course there's hardly a chance of someone winning 3 starts anymore, because nobody pitches regularly on 3 days rest anymore. I found a couple articles that discussed why, and they showed that it usually doesn't go well when they do try. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ainst-pitching-on-short-rest-in-mlb-playoffs/ and Does Throwing Top Pitchers on Short Rest Pay off in the Postseason? | Bleacher Report. (I'm leery of using bleacherreport as a source but there seems to be a lot of research in this article). A couple of rainouts before game 7 might be the best opportunity.

Don't forget, with expanded playoffs, it can be tough to line up your ace for game 1. Back in 68, both the Tigers and Cardinals clinched the pennant with a couple weeks left, and could set their rotation for the series. Lolich actually pitched 4 days earlier than his first WS start, but only went 4 innings before being pinch-hit for. McLain also had just 3 days rest before game 1, and Gibson 4 days rest, so while they could have given them more rest, apparently they didn't want to break routine.

btw, I use retrosheet.org to look up such things as old boxscores, and daily stat logs for players.

 

[Car-Guy]

Maris, McGwire and Bonds home run records. (saw or heard them all when they happened) Ruth was way before my time.

Mayes, Mantel, Koufax, Drysdale, Ryan, and later on Clemens, were my favorites when I watched/listened to baseball back in the day.

 

[candrew]

That was a great series. Gibson went 3-0 the year before, though in games 1, 4, and 7, so three days rest, the usual back in the day. Gibby had beat 31-game winner McLain twice already in 68, including a 17 strikeout shutout in the opener.

1968 was deemed "the year of the pitcher" and Gibson's regular season that year is considered to be among the greatest ever for starting pitchers. 1.12 ERA, 28 complete games - 13 of those shutouts. Then there was McClain with his 31 wins.

Gibson, though, was in a class almost by himself when it came to his ability to dominate and intimidate hitters as he demonstrated in Game 1 of the '68 series. I'll always remember the way in which Gibson buckled Willie Horton in that game on a called 3rd strike. As Gibson delivered the pitch, Horton bailed out of the batter's box early - certain that Gibson was jamming him inside - and instead the pitch broke back over the plate for the strike 3 call.

 

[jjquantz]

1968 was deemed "the year of the pitcher" and Gibson's regular season that year is considered to be among the greatest ever for starting pitchers. 1.12 ERA, 28 complete games - 13 of those shutouts. Then there was McClain with his 31 wins.

Gibson, though, was in a class almost by himself when it came to his ability to dominate and intimidate hitters as he demonstrated in Game 1 of the '68 series. I'll always remember the way in which Gibson buckled Willie Horton in that game on a called 3rd strike. As Gibson delivered the pitch, Horton bailed out of the batter's box early - certain that Gibson was jamming him inside - and instead the pitch broke back over the plate for the strike 3 call.

I watched that game on Youtube a few months ago.
(

)

Two things worth noting: 1) Gibson's dominance, as you mention, and 2) there is NO wasted time - no posturing, no walkup music, no stepping out of the batter's box, short commercial breaks - the game moves right along. MLB could learn a lot from this if they REALLY want to speed up the game.

Edit: I didn't notice that this clip has hte commericals edited out, the one I watched previously did not. My short commercial break comment stands - Elapsed game time was 2:29, the Youtube video time from 1st pitch to last pitch was 2:11. That's right, 18 minutes of commercial time for a World Series game.

Oh, and a comment that may be more in the OP's original spirit. One of my favorite memories is going to the stadium and waiting for the game to start and just hearing the buzz of the crowd - no music, no video screen, just the hum of thousands of people waiting for something to happen.

 

[jollystomper]

Two things worth noting: 1) Gibson's dominance, as you mention, and 2) there is NO wasted time - no posturing, no walkup music, no stepping out of the batter's box, short commercial breaks - the game moves right along. MLB could learn a lot from this if they REALLY want to speed up the game.

That clip also reminded me of Dick McAulliffe's distinctive batting stance.

 

[candrew]

That clip also reminded me of Dick McAulliffe's distinctive batting stance.

Ah yes, Mac and his "foot in the bucket" swing. I recall a lot of us kids impersonating McAuliffe's odd batting stance as kids. Mac also did a fair amount of spitting into the palms of his hands prior to stepping into the batter's box.

 

[candrew]

One of my favorite memories is going to the stadium and waiting for the game to start and just hearing the buzz of the crowd - no music, no video screen, just the hum of thousands of people waiting for something to happen.

+1

And to this day I can still vividly recall that excited feeling in the pit of my stomach as I walked into Tiger Stadium before a game - along with the smell of cigar smoke, green grass, hot dogs steaming, and stale beer!

I remember the crack of baseball bats during BP, the thump of catchers' mitts warming up the starting pitchers and players having a game of "pepper" along the foul lines (don't see that anymore - there is hardly a player nowadays that is expected to bunt a runner over).

 

[Scrapr]

+1

And to this day I can still vividly recall that excited feeling in the pit of my stomach as I walked into Tiger Stadium before a game - along with the smell of cigar smoke, green grass, hot dogs steaming, and stale beer!

I remember the crack of baseball bats during BP, the thump of catchers' mitts warming up the starting pitchers and players having a game of "pepper" along the foul lines (don't see that anymore - there is hardly a player nowadays that is expected to bunt a runner over).

That moment when you walk through the tunnel & the green grass field is laid out before you. I love that scene. I usually stop for a moment to take it in