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Post by Peter - Boston Red Sox on Dec 29, 2016 20:19:25 GMT -5
My earliest baseball memories come from watching Chicago Cubs games with my Great Grandmother when I was 5 or 6 years old. By that time, my grand parents on both sides of my family had brainwashed my sister and I into memorizing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and it was pretty much a guarantee than when we saw them we would have to sing the song. I can remember players like Sandberg, Dawson, Dunston and Grace as guys I used to root for while watching but at that time I really didn't have a team. My family is pretty much split down the middle between Cards and Cubs fans. I really started actively watching baseball in '96 when Tony LaRussa was hired as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. LaRussa made big news by starting Royce Clayton over future HOF SS Ozzie Smith. This was a big deal in our family because everyone loved Ozzie. The move worked and the Cardinals headed to the post season that year for the first time. They almost went to the World Series but lost to Atlanta in Game 7 of the NLCS. From then on, I was hooked. In '98 I was lucky enough to see McGwire hit homerun #65 and have homerun #66 taken away by a missed call from an umpire at Milwaukee County Stadium. In the early 2000's, the Cardinals were fun to watch. They played good defense, pitched well and hit a lot of homeruns. Guys like Edmonds, Rolen, Renteria, Pujols were all in their "prime" and arguably were part of some of the best regular season teams in MLB history...but we all know the postseason is what really matters. In 2004, they finally made it to the World Series only to as many of you already know got swept by the Red Sox but for nearly 16 seasons they've been a threat to make to the postseason. Chris Carpenter really had a breakout year in 2004 and quickly became one of my favorite pitchers to watch. 2006 came and many people wrote the Cardinals off because they had one of the lowest win totals by a playoff team in MLB history. Many overlooked though that the projected Opening Day lineup never played together until Game 1 of the NLDS. The rest was history and I got to enjoy watching my favorite team win a title! I've been fortunate enough to go to many playoff games over the past 6 years and even let Ryan come with to see the Cubs beat the Cardinals last year a playoff game. I've seen some pretty amazing feats at games I've been to and that's really why I love the game. Ryan and I have been best friends since we were really little and started off playing Nintendo with Tecmo Bowl. Ryan had Madden on the computer and we used to play "franchise" mode before it was franchise mode. We would sim every game and that was really my first experience ever playing a sports simulation game. Like Ryan said, MLB Showdown was pretty fun too. I'm really glad that I finally convinced him to try OOTP, I know that in time he'll put together a competitive team in DC! I loved watching Jim Edmonds when he came over to the Cubs for a season or two! And Gary Gaetti as well! Really tough ballplayers. Edmonds played in 50 games in 2008. Hit like 19 homers.
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Post by Peter - Boston Red Sox on Dec 29, 2016 20:25:41 GMT -5
I grew up in Toronto, and rooted for the Jays all my life. Tony Fernandez is my all time favourite player. George Bell, Dave Stieb, Tom Henke.... The Blue Jays of the 80's is just chalk full of talent and heroes to me. I've been to numerous games at the old Exhibition statium. The general admission benches are something i would hate today, but as a kid, they were pretty cool. Im a die hard today, who loves nothing more then to sit down in my chair and watch a Jays game from start to finish. I remember the time I was in St Paul, MN and happened to go check out a St Paul Saints baseball game. Jack Morris and Daryl Strawberry were notable members of the team. This was long after they had retired from MLB. Anyway, I spotted Jack tossing the ball around and loosening up before the game. I went down and introduced myself. I said something like, "Hey Jack! How are ya?: He said fine. There was an awkward pause and I filled it by saying "you went to BYU right? you're Mormon. I just got back from a 2-year mission in Italy." His classic reply was something like "good for you. I don't make it to church very often." That was my Jack Morris story. Thought he was kind of a jerk but I probably should not have filled the silence with churchy stuff while he was warming up.
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Post by Peter - Boston Red Sox on Dec 29, 2016 20:34:21 GMT -5
Question - when you were introduced and fell in love with baseball, which team or player was the spark?Growing up in Cleveland, it was the Indians for me. In particular, I began watching televised sports in 1980 with the Tribe and Olympics that year. If you know 1980 Indians baseball, Super Joe Charboneau was the player I rooted the hardest. The 1980 AL Rookie of Year lost relevance the following year and was out of baseball in short order. But, for that magical summer, he was and remains close to my heart. The Tribe went on to have great success in the late 90s before I moved away in 1999. Jacobs Field (after the old Municipal Stadium, the Jake was a baseball Cathedral) and attending the '95 and '97 World Series were the pinnacle for me personally. When I turned 16 the first place I wanted to drive was the ballpark. I called up the ticket office to find out if they had any tickets to today's game? "Sure, we have 70,000 or so seats available, come on down" was the answer. I was naive to the issues of running a franchise that lost 100 games a year on a regular basis (at the time). I was/am a big time baseball card collector. I say big time but what I mean is I like to collect cards but don't have any of any real value. I just enjoy the hobby. Anyway, one year (maybe my junior or senior year of HS) I got to meet HOFer Bob Feller. He was signing autographs at our local mall along with a few other guys from the 70s/80s. I think Bert Campaneris and maybe George Foster. There was no one in line to see Rapid Robert Feller so while he was signing my baseball I had a few moments to chat. Nothing really substantial other than to tell him he had met my grandmother once on a train (or so she told me) during WW2. She told me she got on a crowded train (full of GIs) and had no where to sit. She said he got up and made room for her and her sister to sit down so they wouldn't have to stand the while way to Chicago. Cool story and I have admired him ever since for being a gentleman to my grandmother. I visited his museum in Iowa and have his autobiography (autographed copy). Side note, every year I play fantasy baseball and always make sure to grab Kipnis and Carlos Santana. Love those guys when they aren't facing the Cubbies.
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Post by Ryan_NatsGM on Dec 29, 2016 23:16:09 GMT -5
My earliest baseball memories come from watching Chicago Cubs games with my Great Grandmother when I was 5 or 6 years old. By that time, my grand parents on both sides of my family had brainwashed my sister and I into memorizing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and it was pretty much a guarantee than when we saw them we would have to sing the song. I can remember players like Sandberg, Dawson, Dunston and Grace as guys I used to root for while watching but at that time I really didn't have a team. My family is pretty much split down the middle between Cards and Cubs fans. I really started actively watching baseball in '96 when Tony LaRussa was hired as the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals. LaRussa made big news by starting Royce Clayton over future HOF SS Ozzie Smith. This was a big deal in our family because everyone loved Ozzie. The move worked and the Cardinals headed to the post season that year for the first time. They almost went to the World Series but lost to Atlanta in Game 7 of the NLCS. From then on, I was hooked. In '98 I was lucky enough to see McGwire hit homerun #65 and have homerun #66 taken away by a missed call from an umpire at Milwaukee County Stadium. In the early 2000's, the Cardinals were fun to watch. They played good defense, pitched well and hit a lot of homeruns. Guys like Edmonds, Rolen, Renteria, Pujols were all in their "prime" and arguably were part of some of the best regular season teams in MLB history...but we all know the postseason is what really matters. In 2004, they finally made it to the World Series only to as many of you already know got swept by the Red Sox but for nearly 16 seasons they've been a threat to make to the postseason. Chris Carpenter really had a breakout year in 2004 and quickly became one of my favorite pitchers to watch. 2006 came and many people wrote the Cardinals off because they had one of the lowest win totals by a playoff team in MLB history. Many overlooked though that the projected Opening Day lineup never played together until Game 1 of the NLDS. The rest was history and I got to enjoy watching my favorite team win a title! I've been fortunate enough to go to many playoff games over the past 6 years and even let Ryan come with to see the Cubs beat the Cardinals last year a playoff game. I've seen some pretty amazing feats at games I've been to and that's really why I love the game. Ryan and I have been best friends since we were really little and started off playing Nintendo with Tecmo Bowl. Ryan had Madden on the computer and we used to play "franchise" mode before it was franchise mode. We would sim every game and that was really my first experience ever playing a sports simulation game. Like Ryan said, MLB Showdown was pretty fun too. I'm really glad that I finally convinced him to try OOTP, I know that in time he'll put together a competitive team in DC! Yeah, closing down Busch last year (with my ticket paid for by fantasy baseball winnings) was the highlight of my live baseball watching career. And I'm pretty sure Tecmo Super Bowl is the only reason MVP 2005 isn't the game I have the most hours on.
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