Category: Baseball

I was on business in Detroit last week. When my meeting was finished around noon, I decided to take a ride over to where the old Tiger Stadium used to be located. To fans of the Tigers, especially the one’s who remember the heyday of this famous ball yard, all you had to say was “the corner of Michigan & Trumbull,” and they knew immediately what you were referring to.

My 2 older sons, Brandon & Joey, and I had the opportunity to be at Tiger Stadium the last weekend that games were played there back in 1999. It was a weekend series against the Kansas City Royals, and we were there for the Saturday game. We had media passes for the game, so we had the chance to be down on the field before the game taking some video, and doing some coverage of the festivities. It was a great time, but a nostalgic time. My only regret was that I didn’t get the chance to talk with Ernie Harwell, the legendary Tigers radio announcer.

Fast forward to last week, and as I approached the area, I really didn’t know what to expect. As I drove around the block 3-4 times, just looking & observing, you notice right away that the entire structure of the ball park is gone.

There is a group of people who now do take care of the field area. The infield area is in nice condition. It is laid out exactly over where home plate and the batters boxes, as well as where the pitchers mound and base paths used to be. There are also small benches on each side, in the approximate location of where the dugouts were located.

Even though there is fencing all the way around, the section of original gateway along the first baseline is still intact, and you can enter the area through the gate there. It was open and unlocked. Next to the gate is a small sign that simply reads “Ernie Harwell Field.”

For an old baseball fan like myself who truly enjoys the history of the game, walking around the field area was truly a rare treat. I enjoyed standing in the batters boxes where many of the greats of the game plied their trade. To me, it was almost breathtaking knowing that who I consider the greatest of them all, Ty Cobb, hit from that very spot thousands of times. Also Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and countless other “hall of famers,” did the very same.

I loved walking around the outfield area, taking in the ambiance of it all, and just picturing 50-60 thousand people cheering your every move.

I also recalled the 1971 all-star game, when Reggie Jackson hit one of the longest home runs ever hit there. It would have went completely out of the stadium if not for some construction that was going on atop the roof in right field.

If you love the history of the game, and are in the area, make the trip to “Michigan & Trumbull.” As I like to say, you won’t be disappointed

As the calendar is close to turning to the month of September, it is obvious that if you follow major league baseball, most of the division races, as well as the wild card spots, are still highly up for grabs.

It has been a great Summer for baseball, and as we now head into the final 35-40 games, it looks like just about anything can happen.

As I was reviewing things this morning, the thing that really stands out to me is that for the second year in a row, the Tampa Bay Rays are making the late hard push for a playoff berth by playing their best ball of the year. Their pitching is great, and the return of Evan Longoria hasn’t hurt. Looking at the standings, Tampa is only 3 games behind the NY Yankees.

For all of you “southsiders” from Chicago, the White Sox just swept the Yankees in Chicago for the first time since 1991. The Sox are trying (and succeeding) of keeping the Detroit Tigers at bay in the American League Central.

Out West in the AL, my beloved Texas Rangers have been able to hold onto first place almost the entire season. They are 5 up on the very surprising Oakland “moneyball” Athletics. The disappointing LA Angels are 8 1/2 back. The manager’s chair in LA can’t be real comfortable right about now.

Besides the teams in first place, teams with a realistic chance of garnering those 2 wild card slots could still be the aforementioned Tampa, Detroit, Oakland, as well as the Baltimore Orioles.

In the National League, the Cincinnati Reds are playing wonderful baseball, and with the return of Joey Votto, they look to be the team to beat in the NL.

The Washington Nationals are solid in the East. But with the status of Stephen Strasburg up in the air as to when he will be shut down, they are still a question mark as to how far they may advance.

In the West, as has happened numerous times throughout baseball history, the Dodgers & Giants are battling it out for West coast supremacy. Right now, the Giants with the better pitching, seem to be in control. With Tim Lincecum pitching better as of late, this only solidifies the Giants standing.

Wild card possibilities would be Atlanta, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, or LA.

If you get the opportunity, try to get out to see some games. I realize football is right around the corner. But in my mind, baseball is still “America’s Pasttime,” and we are in for another wild ride to the finish line.

I mentioned in a story a while back about experiencing my first Major League baseball game at Cleveland Municipal Stadium back in 1965 when I was 10 years old.

Well, today is the anniversary of attending that game 47 years ago. Over the course of time, details become blurred as to what happened, and what might have happened.

If you love baseball, check out the web site baseball-reference.com, and you will be hooked on spending inordinate amounts of time reading about just about anything that concerns professional baseball. This is the web site that I referenced when looking up details about that first game that I attended. It is where you can find the box scores from any game, which was my modus operandi.

I do know that I attended the game with my Dad and two brothers. I do remember that it was part of a promotion called “Grandstand Managers Night.” This was a promotion where a few weeks before the game, you could answer some baseball questions in the local newspaper, and it would enable you to get discounted seats. If I recall, we ended up with great seats in the area behind home plate, just up a little ways.

The anticipation was killing us as we counted down the days before the game. Finally, July 24th arrived, it was a Saturday evening game, and we were on our way.

Our team, the Cleveland Indians, were having a good year. They were 54-39 at the time, and in third place. They were playing the defending American League champion New York Yankees. The Yankees were beginning their 12 year decline, as they stood at 47-50, and in 6th place.

Here are some facts from that game. There were 48,777 people in attendance, which was huge for Cleveland at that time. The Indians starting lineup featured Larry Brown at short, Max Alvis at third, Leon Wagner in left, Rocky Colavito in right, Fred Whitfield at first, Chuck Hinton in center, Joe Azcue behind the plate, Pedro Gonzalez at second, and my hero, “Sudden” Sam Mcdowell on the hill. Not all household names, but they were our heroes none the less.

The Yankees featured the great Mickey Mantle. As well as Tommy Tresh, Bobby Richardson, Elston Howard, Joe Pepitone, and Clete Boyer.

The Indians won 3-0, behind McDowells 5 hit shutout. He notched 10 strikeouts, including Mantle 3 times. Cleveland had RBI’s from Brown, Alvis, and Wagner. “Daddywags” RBI was a long home run over the center field fence in the third inning.

The game lasted 2 hours and 33 minutes, and it was 90 degrees at game time.

Funny thing is, I never noticed the time that elapsed, or how hot it was. It was that much of a magical time with my Dad & brothers.

A few weeks back, it was reported that a family in Defiance, Ohio, had stumbled upon a treasure trove of baseball cards in the attic of an old home they were clearing out.

These cards were in pristine condition, and they dated back to around 1910 or so. They included Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson, and of course, the great Ty Cobb just to name a few.

They were from a very rare set, of which there were a limited amount that ever went to print. The experts say that chances are, there will never be a find like this ever again. The cards are valued at around 3 million dollars.

This brought to mind all of the card collecting that I did when I was young. I started collecting around the mid 1960’s, and by the time I had reached my late teens, I had amassed quite a collection. My brothers and I, along with friends from that time, spent hours discussing, buying, and of course trading these treasured pieces of paper.

Back then, Topps pretty much controlled the card market. Today, there are countless companies that put out “the next best thing” in the collecting industry.

After I pretty much had quit collecting, my sons took over, and they amassed quite a collection themselves.

I spent a good portion of time over the past year or so getting the cards that I had, as well as my boys cards organized into albums. They are now neatly arranged alphabetically into “books,” and they are there for easy viewing. They include cards that go all the way back to the 1950’s.

I certainly doubt that the collection that I have would ever approach 7 figures, but to me and my sons, they are priceless.