Yes. Today would have been the home openers for the New York Yankees and the Philadelphia Phillies. The New York Mets' home opener came and went. Cancelled, for now. It was March 26th. It's sad. The one true thing that usually pulled me out of the long winter doldrums, as I hate winter, especially living in the northeastern United States, was baseball.
I was never truly a Phillies fan. Even though, the first four games of my life I saw live were in Philadelphia. The first two as a youngster on a field trip with the Spokesman newspaper. I was a paper boy while in elementary and junior high school. Both games were in the summer a year apart and against the Mets. (1970 & 1971) They bused us from Jersey to old Connie Mack in north Philly. I got to be in a legendary ball park for a game in its last season. Nothing remains of the ballpark now. Long gone, it is now a church, the Deliverance Evangelistic Church. A shout out to my religious homies.
My next two games were when I accompanied one of my best friends along with our science teacher, TH (he would be my friend's future brother-in-law in a few years) and his best friend, TJ. We went to the brand new Veterans Stadium. It was so nice and shiny. Not the way I remember it the last year in operation. That thing needed to be torn down and replaced. It was a twilight double header with the Dodgers on Monday, July 10th, 1972. The first game was a make-up for a rain out in May. No, I don't have a fantastic mind for recall. I sort of remembered a little and looked up the rest of the details. My science teacher was a HUGE and I do mean HUGE Dodgers fan. We had fantastic seats. First base side. About 10 rows or so from the field, if I recall. It was a warm, sunny, slightly breezy day. It felt great to be in a new ballpark. The warmth of the sun playing off the fans as well as the players. The yelling and cheering by TH every time a Dodger player got up to bat. It was hilarious. You should have seen all the stink-eye he was getting from Phillies fans. We were lucky to get out of there alive. So, as to not keep you in suspense, they split the double header. Dodgers took the first.
In order to see my team, the Mets, I made field trips to New York. Many times my sister and I would take turns buying tickets. If the game was at Yankee Stadium, she bought. If it was at Shea, I bought. I also bought the year that the Mets moved to Citi Field. To see the Mets near my home in Philadelphia, I needed to buy season tickets. Single game tickets were always sold out especially during the years the Phillies had their mini-dynasty. During those games, I got heckled fervently by the Phillies faithful. Often telling me to go back to where I came from. In which I would reply, but I live in Mayfair. (A neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia, if you didn't already know.)
I remember a few years ago in happier times, sort of. I could stay at home and watch a triple header. Back to back to back live games televised on ESPN. Often, none of the games had teams I were even remotely interested in, but it was baseball. You watched it because you loved the game. Of course, if your most hated teams played, you just rooted for the opposing team. You know, the teams you hated the most: Red Sox and Braves. Now we can add the fahken Houston Astros to that list. Cheating bastards! Go join your comrade Belichick and the cheating New England Patriots in your Cheaters' Clubhouse. You bunch of Corksoakers. And if the game was the Braves versus the Red Sox, well then, you just prayed for rain and a lot of lightning. 😁
I was never truly a Phillies fan. Even though, the first four games of my life I saw live were in Philadelphia. The first two as a youngster on a field trip with the Spokesman newspaper. I was a paper boy while in elementary and junior high school. Both games were in the summer a year apart and against the Mets. (1970 & 1971) They bused us from Jersey to old Connie Mack in north Philly. I got to be in a legendary ball park for a game in its last season. Nothing remains of the ballpark now. Long gone, it is now a church, the Deliverance Evangelistic Church. A shout out to my religious homies.
My next two games were when I accompanied one of my best friends along with our science teacher, TH (he would be my friend's future brother-in-law in a few years) and his best friend, TJ. We went to the brand new Veterans Stadium. It was so nice and shiny. Not the way I remember it the last year in operation. That thing needed to be torn down and replaced. It was a twilight double header with the Dodgers on Monday, July 10th, 1972. The first game was a make-up for a rain out in May. No, I don't have a fantastic mind for recall. I sort of remembered a little and looked up the rest of the details. My science teacher was a HUGE and I do mean HUGE Dodgers fan. We had fantastic seats. First base side. About 10 rows or so from the field, if I recall. It was a warm, sunny, slightly breezy day. It felt great to be in a new ballpark. The warmth of the sun playing off the fans as well as the players. The yelling and cheering by TH every time a Dodger player got up to bat. It was hilarious. You should have seen all the stink-eye he was getting from Phillies fans. We were lucky to get out of there alive. So, as to not keep you in suspense, they split the double header. Dodgers took the first.
In order to see my team, the Mets, I made field trips to New York. Many times my sister and I would take turns buying tickets. If the game was at Yankee Stadium, she bought. If it was at Shea, I bought. I also bought the year that the Mets moved to Citi Field. To see the Mets near my home in Philadelphia, I needed to buy season tickets. Single game tickets were always sold out especially during the years the Phillies had their mini-dynasty. During those games, I got heckled fervently by the Phillies faithful. Often telling me to go back to where I came from. In which I would reply, but I live in Mayfair. (A neighborhood in Northeast Philadelphia, if you didn't already know.)
I've been a long time Mets fan, but for many years I still followed the Yankees, because it was a family tradition. It was the right thing to do. Most of my cousins on my mother's side are Yankee fans. You just can't break from tradition. My Dad and youngest sister were lifelong Yankee fans, both now deceased. My youngest brother jumped back on board the Yankee train when he moved back to New Jersey before moving to Florida and then dying. But I remember 1973 when the Mets were on the cusp of winning their second World Series this time against the Oakland Athletics. My youngest brother was rooting for the A's. We had never been to California; let alone Oakland. Of course, he was ecstatic when Oakland was crowned World Series Champs of 1973. What an asshole! At least he died a Yankee fan. When I'm on my deathbed someday, I will renounce the Mets and again wear the pinstripes into the hereafter cursing the fahken Boston Red Sox. The Sox sux.
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| Here come the Yankees Let's get behind and cheer the Yankees |
Below is one of my most favorite baseball video/songs.
The games will go on...someday. It's going to be an interesting Summer. We might actually have several sports competing for fan and TV time. Possibly too many sports. Oh, I weep for those poor ignored sports widows now.
Hockey and Basketball intends to resume their seasons. Football intends to start as it normally does in the Summer with preseason training and games. I'm not sure if the resurrected XFL survived or will actually come back in 2021 as it promises, or if it has died the death like so many other Professional Football leagues before. At least, it won't be part of the returning fray this year.
Most of the sports networks are airing old "Classic" games. Some probably are very compelling and exciting. But I can't see myself watching them. It's not the same as live up-to-the-minute action or long, boring pitching duels. Unless you're watching something like Ken Burn's baseball with archive film footage, it's not the same. I mean it's interesting to watch the old games because just about all of them played before I was born or when I was too young to have watched it on the old black and white Zenith.
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| Zenith TV circa 1950s |
As I sit here waxing nostalgia over the oldest of the four major sports in the USA, refusing to acknowledge all the little rugrats coming up choosing Soccer or European Football over playing America's past time, I daydream of the time when a group of boys could scrounge up a few bats, balls and gloves and find a dirt lot and play the greatest game of all time. I shudder to think what the future holds for this sport. We will see. In my not so humble opinion, the American past time is and always will be BASEBALL!!! 💓💓⚾⚾⚾
Until next time, I guess I'll continue to binge watch Tiger King. Man, those people are fahken whacked. TTFN.
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