CHARIN MIGHT ENJOY THIS ... THE REST OF YOU NOT SO MUCH!


In my clean up today I've come across a score card from a Mets/Dodgers game at Shea 29 years ago Sunday.

IIRC, Fernando kicked our butts the day before. I went with a fellow Met fan, his fraternity brother [a Dodger fan] and the brother's girlfriend [who owned the car and found my enthusiastic rooting obnoxious].

It was the soon-to-be failed year of "By George, We Got It!" when George's Bamberger and Foster joined the team. So, there was great disappointed when the team lost like 100 games.

Oddly, I remember it being pretty well attended and surprised we had to pay quite a bit for scalped boxes. So my memory is likely faulty here ... the Mets rarely drew fans then, like now.

Also, oddly, the Mets won the game. But, I think they started GREAT that year and faded. At least that's how I remember it.

The best memory of this game wasn't part of the action. Some bozo ran on the field and former Buffalo cornerback John Stearns laid him out like it was a Jet game.

I went to one other game that year: Joe Torre's "return" with the Braves who had one of the best starts ever. The Mets won that game, too. [I was mad because Kingman didn't play. Always wanted to see a Kingman homer in person, never did. They started Staub, who was hitting like .100, but got a big double].

The next game I went to was a Seaver start in 1983 when Strawberry first came up from the minors. This time just after finals ... so it must have been almost a year from the Dodgers game. So, I saw my first in person Seaver win, Strawberry blast and Strawberry outfield assist ... gunning a guy out at the plate! Loved his arm.

Oddly, my favorite memory of the game was a Ron Hodges bases-loaded walk. I HATED Ron Hodges. There was NO ONE in the stands. NO ONE. 5k. MAYBE 7k. We got boxes in the front section between home and 1B. I was yelling at Hodges to "take". I used to say "He's DEADLY while taking." because he COULD NOT hit. When he got the walk the fans that heard and appreciated my abuse of him, joined me in a standing ovation.

I remember the manager of the other team being Dick Williams, who used quite a few pitchers at a time when it wasn't as common as it is now. So, I'm inferring it was the Padres, but I really don't remember.




I've got to handle some business that will keep me from my PC for about a week. Catch you guys, gals, and half-trannies then ...