I've loved many sports. My dad's favorite sport is basketball and that's the sport I played the most growing up. I am a huge football fan and Notre Dame's football team is the team I care about more than any other. But baseball will always be my first love.
I'll never forget the first baseball game I went to. 1989, David Cone vs. Orel Hershiser, Mets 3, Dodgers 2. I don't remember the details, but I remember the starting pitchers and the final score. I went to four games last year (I think). I don't remember any of the final scores and the only starting pitcher that I remember was Ted Lilly pitching one of the games I went to in Los Angeles. I looked up my first game because I thought maybe I wasn't remembering it correctly. I was five and a half. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198908180.shtml I was right. The only thing I didn't remember correctly was David Cone coming out of the game. I thought both pitchers pitched complete games.
Actually, it wasn't the first time I was in Shea Stadium. I was there in 1988 for Mets-Dodgers, but the game was never played. I remember sitting in there in the rain hoping they would play, but eventually it was called. How could I possibly remember this? I was four and a half. Again, I was right. The Mets and Dodgers played Friday September 2, Saturday September 3, and Monday September 5. They must have been rained out on Sunday. So September 4, 1988 was the first time I was in a Major League Baseball stadium. Now I'm trying to get to as many as possible.
I don't have any memories like this associated with other sports. Sure, I remember my first Notre Dame football game (at Pittsburgh, September 3, 2005), but I was 21. It was awesome, but not the same. But I'll have a lot more on why I love baseball in the weeks/months to come.
A couple of updates on the Year of Jim:
1. I will be going to Ireland. Airfare was going up and hotels were getting booked, so I had to decide. I got really excited when I booked my flights. I can't wait for Ireland. Hopefully we can run our winning streak against Navy to a big 2.
2. I have a four day weekend for Ascension Thursday. I've added a mystery trip for that weekend (I already mentioned it to a few people, don't ruin the surprise for everybody else). Of course, it involves baseball. And the other hint I'll give you is that I hope I don't run into Stan Marsh.
Jim, at what age do you think a child should attend his first MLB game?
ReplyDeleteA few thoughts on that:
ReplyDelete1. I would say a child should be old enough to remember it. I don't remember anything before I was 4.
2. Does the child have any understanding of baseball? If I had a son, I'd want to watch some baseball on TV with him before taking him to a game. Obviously, he's not going to sit through nine innings every day, but I'd want him to have some idea of what's going on in a game.
3. The other consideration is how he's going to behave during a game. Is he actually going to watch the game? Are you going to be able to watch the game or do you have to spend the whole time taking care of the kid?
And one correction to my post. I do remember that Cole Hamels started the game I went to in Philadelphia. Here were the matchups I saw last year (after looking them up):
Hiroki Kuroda vs. Jon Niese
Trevor Cahill vs. Cole Hamels
Esmil Rogers vs. Ted Lilly
Kevin Millwood vs. Chad Billingsly
Yeah, i was thinking 5 years of age, and only after the child shows genuine interest in watching the televised games w/me. Would you start off with cheap seats or premium seats for a kid's first game?
ReplyDelete