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ClevelandBrown

Earliest memories of fandom?

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32 minutes ago, soupslam1 said:

My dad was also a Cardinals fan. Stan Musial was his favorite player. I remember Bob Gibson. On the mound he was a mean sob that no hitter dared dig his spikes in at home plate. Knockdowns were pretty common back then with few fights. It was just part of the game. Don Drysdale used to knock Willie Mays down with regularity. It didn’t phase Willie. He would still get his hits. 

I still think Sandy Koufax was the best I’ve ever seen. He had an exceptional fast ball and curve. When his control was on, he was extremely tough to hit. There were lots of great pitchers in that era that went nine innings frequently, a rarity today. 

The 15" mound had a something to do with it.

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4 minutes ago, renoskier said:

The 15" mound had a something to do with it.

Not so sure. There were way more 0.300 hitters back then. There were some great pitchers, but pitching depth wasn’t as good. However, the hitters weren’t all swinging for the fences like they do now.

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1 hour ago, soupslam1 said:

Not so sure. There were way more 0.300 hitters back then. There were some great pitchers, but pitching depth wasn’t as good. However, the hitters weren’t all swinging for the fences like they do now.

No, you're wrong about that. And in 1968, the last year of the 15" mound,  Yaz won the AL batting title with a .301 average, Pete Rose won the NL at .335

1968 saw the lowest team averages in the history of the game, .237.

Going back considerably farther, say before 1940ish,one of the main reasons batting averages were higher was glove technology.

Also, the thing you mentioned about pitchers throwing many more innings lead to arm fatigue and more late inning hits.

Team batting averages peaked in 2006 at .269 but have dipped in the last 10 years to on average about .255.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/MLB/bat.shtml

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Cool experiences.  I was elk hunting with my dad in the Big Horn Mountains of Wyoming.  Must have been 9 or so.  We climbed a small hill by hunting camp and he pulls out his transistor radio.  I asked what was going on and he said this was the only spot he could get the radio station carrying the Wyoming Football game.  I think it was against New Mexico.  Laid in the sun and listened.

 

Memories

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3 hours ago, soupslam1 said:

Did you ever see Mark the Bird Fydrich pitch? He was funny as hell to watch. Didn’t he have arm trouble after a couple of years and couldn’t maintain his early success? 

Never saw him pitch in person.  His antics were all the rage for a couple of years, and yes injuries cut his career short.  I guess talking to the ball wasn't very common.

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22 hours ago, brillio said:

I remember going to Nevada games as a kid, but not really caring either way with a win or loss.  But my fandom would be the first time being mad about a Pack loss..the 1995 big west conference tournament championship when we lost to Long Beach in OT. 

Still remember watching Faron Hand and Eathan O’Bryant playing. Good team... too bad they didn’t go to the dance that season.

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8 hours ago, soupslam1 said:

My dad was also a Cardinals fan. Stan Musial was his favorite player. I remember Bob Gibson. On the mound he was a mean sob that no hitter dared dig his spikes in at home plate. Knockdowns were pretty common back then with few fights. It was just part of the game. Don Drysdale used to knock Willie Mays down with regularity. It didn’t phase Willie. He would still get his hits. 

I still think Sandy Koufax was the best I’ve ever seen. He had an exceptional fast ball and curve. When his control was on, he was extremely tough to hit. There were lots of great pitchers in that era that went nine innings frequently, a rarity today. 

Back then , if you didn't go 9, you were packed off to the minors or placed on the DL.

What year was it the Dodgers won the series in four games over the Yanks and used only four pitchers ? I remember Koufax winning games one and four, Drysdale won game two and can't remember the other two pitchers.

"We don't have evidence but, we have lot's of theories."

Americans Mayor

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I was 6 years old when I went to my first sporting event, Duke Blue Devils (white uniforms) vs West Virginia Mountaineers at Wallace Wade Stadium in Durham, North Carolina. My Dad was teaching ROTC for the US Marine Corps at Duke University. He was a West Virginia fan so he went to the game and took me along. He was able to get us seats on the 50 yard line right by the field. Best seats I've ever had and a memory I'll never forget. Being so young those college players looked like giants to me. I did an internet search and found this photo of the football game. Let's Go Mountaineers! 

5Lgy8N6RLxeTFhPszotBLMawJCcOIYsgskwH5hmg3YwWYIoHc148cC-_amc_oXMY1WaVojh7_PZ1dbMWLwlD8BHZgMcFvEEDalkvc6Pb2ZNlCCTpW4NeJQkv0O4MF4T7gJQi2oTL4ePxZEMwbYPQEZ1bdX4JpXao4udvHOimN0EVD7Vcxur-JXaDqEA0txRhUukq38YINEor9ecy_zPCisZFiL3zCfSUFZOzeFs9Bf5SqTzPGmYz6gLuJnwM-ERMjGnk7wmdPJQObovqo4aZxcGPrYxrxmZmmBCalJlsvmnFMtFWthv569OFp-yHpth-cJqA-MmGJh2dPv5hjAuYbzHsnIFqBg5g2oSj_YbP07upFVwnf1H63VfdpISWxSMX8cFXJg3qlX7tX8OOYWVNeuRZFcQr5s86-hsL1sOsp0fsk2lXWhy7uh8XFGMVqTh4jPJudbDHKT5wO7LOsW-4ha6kr_ONPO7DHJuvNj1hJjHbyufYbrSeAWC2agu3T5xO98k2Yc8L5D2kgcF8OKB90dEkJCk5jH-uKxHLuvhNWiDNY4ERT-b7Txdubr3YTfD5bFLEsd_p9E3Z2hSAjyr7QTEBIWYaX3SYUwLVZPozM1tIyKeyen1IlGwll0w1925fKq_LtpiakvzBozcz370EKQb7bmeNgLI29bOf5tDnovqzmjzGH4dpT9enoPAKNg=w789-h614-no

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My first ever sporting event I remember attending was actually Kobe Bryant's NBA debut in Fresno. It was a preseason game at Selland Arena in downtown Fresno. Must have been 1996? 

 

As a child I grew up watching the Jerry Tarkanian coached bulldogs. Would hangout/tailgate in the red lot(before the soccer/lacrosse stadium was built) before the football games. First game I remember vividly was 2001 at home vs then #8 Oregon State. Was a standing room only crowd. I've only been to Candlestick once for a Fresno State/Cal football neutral site game. I've been to Pac Bell/AT&T/Oracle Park numerous times since it was built, and always try to catch a day game over the summer.

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At five years old, I was at one of my first Wyoming Cowboys Basketball games in the fieldhouse. Back then, the court was on a three foot riser. We were seated near the free throw line about four rows up. There was a good sized gap between the bleachers and the court, probably about ten feet. Anyway, my five-year-old attention was being divided between about five thousand different things. While I was trying to make sense of all the different banners that hung from the north wall, an errant ball managed to bounce perfectly off the edge of the riser and shot straight across the gap into the stands and smacked my right on the head. Of course, I started bawling. They actually stopped the game while everyone from a UPD cop, a doctor sitting near us, to Head Coach Mo Radovich all attended to me. All the attention scared me even more, but the officials still waited until everyone decided I was okay before allowing play to resume. Once everyone started to leave me alone, I calmed down for the rest of the quarter, but I never took my eyes off the court. At halftime, my Mom took me home while my Dad stayed for the rest of the game. It was a couple of years before I would acquiesce to attending another basketball game...

Image result for h.l. mencken quotes

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On 3/21/2020 at 11:10 AM, SleepingGiantFan said:

I have family in the Twin Cities so attended a couple games at the Metrodome and it was indeed a low-budget dump. Regardless, that series was one for the ages, including that great catch by Puckett and what great leaders he and Jack Morris were.

That vertical leap by Puckett is just sick.  It's like he jumped on a trampoline...

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I wish I could recall more of the details, but my dad took me to what I think was one of last 49ers games at Kezar stadium, which would've been in 1970 (I was 5).  I have no idea who the opponent was (feels like it might've been Dallas?), but having been to Candlestick multiple times since that venue opened I think I would've remembered if it was otherwise.  My mom and dad separated not long thereafter, so things were never the same with my dad and I after.  I don't recall ever going to a game with him again.  Also, their divorce became a "distance" issue for us and then, unfortunately, he ended up dying very young, in 1979 (age 46).

An interesting side-note to this is that my father knew Dick Vermeil very well.  Actually, they went to high school together (Calistoga High).  In fact, my father dated Dick's older sister, which is pretty crazy when you think about it.  Being an SJSU alum (along with Dick), I therefore have always sort of had the desire to meet him, so this past year I finally e-mailed his wine operation in Napa.  I sent the message to a sales associate there (or someone along those lines).  Anyway, I mentioned my dad in the message and how "I thought" Dick might remember him, etc.  Also, that I would like to meet him and talk about their connected past.  I mean, Dick e-mailed me back in, like, 10 minutes (personal e-mail).  I was incredulous.  Me and my brother met him a few weeks later.  He had nothing but nice things to say about my father, which was a really neat - and meaningful - experience.  

My mother also was a classmate of John Madden (Jefferson High in Daly City), so that's another crazy Pro Football Head Coaching connection that my parents had (she always referred to him as "Johnny")...

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Three events in the same year. I was only 5 but clearly remember watching all three on tv.

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23 hours ago, Spaztecs said:

Back then , if you didn't go 9, you were packed off to the minors or placed on the DL.

What year was it the Dodgers won the series in four games over the Yanks and used only four pitchers ? I remember Koufax winning games one and four, Drysdale won game two and can't remember the other two pitchers.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1963_WS.shtml

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32 minutes ago, BSUTOP25 said:

Three events in the same year. I was only 5 but clearly remember watching all three on tv.

images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQpvV77K6BWmKRxOylKRBJ

diqexsfvkneovcghoine.jpg
 

81376702.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=618&

 

The Miracle on Ice was the biggest upset in the history of sports IMO. The Russians were professionals and the best in the world with the worlds best goal keeper. They were formidable and intimidating. The Americans a collection of college kids.  I didn’t get to watch it because I was on an airplane.

The pilot came over the loudspeaker and announced the score and the whole plane erupted in shouts and applause. The Americans still had to beat the Finns the next game for the gold metal which they did. 

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1970, I was 5. I went with my Grandfather and my Dad to Muleshoe Texas on a cattle buying trip. After My Grandfather did his business we went to Lubbock to watch the UNM/ Texas Tech football game. I became a life long Lobo fan and football junkie that day.

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