Fenway is "America's most beloved ballpark". You have been couped up too long in the land of corn and tumbleweed my man. Come East young man :!: :!: :!: jif
Wow! I recall going to Met games at the Polo Grounds. I went to Shea shortly after it opened. I'm old.
So did I, Sid. I can still smell Crosley. Remember the old black man outside the stadium in the long tailed black coat and stovepipe hat selling peanuts? Or the wall murals of old Reds player in all the concession stands? God, I loved that park.
I don't recall those things, George. I only went to a few games at Crosley over 10-12 years, including a World Series game in 1961 and the final game the season before they moved to Riverfront. I'm sure your memories go back to your childhood, which is what makes them so vivid. My earliest memories are of when we lived in suburban Chicago, and my Dad took my brother and me to Cubs and White Sox games.
8) I went to Dodger games at the Coliseum, Angel games at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, and I attended Laker games at the LA Sports Arena where John F. Kennedy was nominated. I also attended Disneyland one month after it opened, (my wife was there the second day) and I met Walter Knott and his wife Cordelia when they still lived at Knotts Berry Farm, in their house across from the Haunted Shack... I played basketball before the shot clock or the three-point play and I was sometimes called for violations like traveling, taunting and palming that are never called anymore... I played football with jerseys that buttoned under the crotch, helmets with suspension nets inside and hip pads made of hard foam rubber... I played baseball with cardboard earflaps to protect my head and I remember when batting helmets (no earflaps), and batting gloves were new inventions. We always wore wool uniforms no matter how hot it was. The theory then, was that wool was hot and made you sweat and the sweat cooled you down. It was uniform logic that went back to the Civil War... I guess I must be getting old too... ..........DD
I went to Dodger games at Ebbets Field - before they became carpetbaggers. As far as the rest, are you JO'Co's daddy?
You know your old when they replace the "new" ballpark don't you Sid? I've been to Forbes Field, Three Rivers and the new PNC Park. PJ in Jersey
This is a good thread. That's what makes baseball the game it is... it returns us to our youth; it implants detailed memories like no other sport. I'll continue in the "JO'Co" style... Crosley Field seated about 29,000 people. It was located in a run down factory type neighborhood on the north side of Cincinnati right next to I-75. The dimensions were considered cozy in those days, LF 328, LC 387, CF 407, RC 383, RF 360. By today's standards that would be BIG. Instead of a warning track they had a grass terrace. You knew the wall was close when you felt yourself running uphill. There was a large scoreboard in CF, very high with a Longines clock on top. I'm told Joe DiMaggio hit that clock in the 1941 World Series. I have an old ticket stub from a doubleheader in 1962 against the Houston Colt 45s. The price? $2.25 ! I remember the smells like I'm there right now; cigars and roasted peanuts. I also remember the crowd, men in shirts and ties, ladies in dresses and everyone wearing hats. The players clubhouse was actually an old white house next to the stadium. They had to walk across a fenced in lot and underneath the grandstands to get to their dugouts. It was under the stands that you could get autographs- for free! As a kid I got Warren Spahn, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, Ron Santo, Don Kessinger, Don Drysdale, Vada Pinson, Pete Rose ( 6 times ) and a host of others. When Santo gave me his he took his Cubs batting helmet off and put it on my head while he signed. He also asked me about my Little League team. Can you imagine that today? I saw enough Hall of Famers there to fill a wing in Cooperstown. My most memeorable story though was in 1964(?) my dad took me to see the Cardinals and Stan Musial. He was playing his 3rd last game and my dad said " look at him, George. He looks like an old man now but he is one of the greatest hitters to ever play". With that, The Man singled to center field. It would be the last hit of his career. Fast forward to 1986... I take my then six year old son, Scott( now a NJ state trooper ), to see the Reds in Riverfront Stadium. Up to the plate steps player-manager Pete Rose, my boyhood idol. I repeat my dad's words verbatim from 1964 to my son. With that, Rose slaps a double down the left field line finsishing it with his patented head first slide into second. My dad was there too.. we looked at one another and our eyes filled up. No words were needed. That's baseball; it's the fabric that holds generations together.
I remember driving by Crosley Field before they tore it down...never saw a game there. I liked Riverfront, though. Personally, I think the new Mets Stadium looks great...I love Jacobs Field in Cleveland with all the new ammenities but lots of "retro" looks to it. Didn't want to antagonize Joel, so I deleted a post I wrote earlier about Fenway...everybody raves about it, and it certainly has a great tradition and incredible baseball memories. When I saw a game there, it was neat to be there and to imagine all the stuff that has gone on and the players who had played there...but I frankly failed to see the attraction of the physical facilities. stu
Stu.. Its the history surrounding Fenway. Its the Green monster. The beautifully landscaped field. The "coziness" and closeness to the field of the seats...its the Citco sign beyond left field and the Prudential and Hancock buildings beyond right field. More then anything else, and I suppose you have to be a life long Red Sox fan its the fans, the ushers., the vendors. all mingling, all being so friendly with people they never saw before. Oh yes, no matter how many times I go to Fenway ( and its been many) coming up the runway to my seat and looking out at the field and the monster and the surroundings never ceases to thrill me. Now what was it you were going to say? lol jif
Well, the comment that I deleted was that it reminded me of my visit to the USS Houston...ancient and a horrible battleship green color. :wink: stu