Your first MLB baseball game

It was a weeknight game at Fenway in 1984 that was rained out. I was six years old and sat in the grandstand with my dad for a while eating the typical baseball snacks. I still remember the walk from the T and all the scalpers. I had the blow up baseball bat for years until my brother popped it just to piss me off because I broke a model he was building. 

Red Sox at Yankees (as a Red Sox fan) Sunday August 4, 1974 at Shea Stadium.  $4 in a Field Level Box.  I still have the ticket and it says Rain Check on it- wonder if I could use it today?  I think it was a double header that the second game was rained out.

My Dad tells me it was a Red Sox game when I was in Kindergarten.  I don't remember.   I do remember moving from Massachusetts to Toledo, OH in first grade.   My entire class was going to a Tigers/Twins game (1968) , and I think I wondered off and got separated from everybody.   I had no idea where I was, but I eventually found my way back to the buses by the end of the game.   I remember the old Tiger stadium was a dump, and Norm Cash hit a homerun.   

Not related to the topic, but my wife and I were talking about this at dinner the other night.      The most memorable regular season game for us was the day before we got married.  My wife and I and two friends decide to drive from Kennebunkport, ME to go to a Red Sox /Rangers game.   Clemens was pitching and they were sold out.   Clemens would get shelled and not last more than a couple innings.   Some guy in an Armani suit opens a door @Fenway that we didn't even know was there and offered us fantastic seats behind home plate for $0.   Gave them to us right there.   We told him we were getting married tomorrow and he said this was his present to us.   Then he was gone.   It was the weirdest thing.   

What, is it only Sox fans on here?  My first game was at Fenway on 8/9/72 against the Tigers.  Yaz, my favorite player, GIDP his first two times up and then was removed from the game.

I will continue the Red Sox theme. My Dad grew up near Boston and we took regular trips up there to visit my non- English speaking Italian grandparents during summers when I was in grade school.  My first game was also a Red Sox game at Fenway. I’m guessing August of 1964 or 1965. I don’t remember the details of the game. But I do remember that we didn’t have tickets so my Dad made me wear my little league jersey & hat to the game. Tickets were sold at the gate back then and even tho the game was sold out some tickets were always held back, and my Dad somehow knew that. He paraded me up to the ticket window and pleaded his case that we had driven all the way from OKC to see the Red Sox. A kind-hearted ticket agent gave us some obstructed seat tickets at no cost. It was a struggle to see the game action but we were in Fenway Park so who cared! We made that trip for a few years in a row and always saw a Red Sox game. I saw Frank Howard hit one of the longest home runs I have ever seen over the green monster and was at the game when Tony Conigliaro got beaned. Have never heard a stadium full of people that quiet before or since. 

1980 something Yankees before the legend of Mattingly, when the Bronx lived up to it's reputation.  

Great Idea for a thread.

My first game was at DC Stadium, Kansas City Athletics vs. Washington Senators, possibly 1961. Tickets were through the Washington Post Knothole club or gang which offered minimally priced or free tickets for kids. My buddy's dad took us. Seems like all the games were against the A's. We went to a few games throughout the years have I scant and varied memories. 

For some reason we didn't like Jimmy Piersall and yelled at him to "go blow your nose"; probably the worst thing we could think of to say. An inning or so later when he returned to the outfield, he pulled a handkerchief out of his back pocket, blew his nose and shut us up.

Having attended Catholic school, I was stunned to see nuns at a game or two. Then there was a game where the kids received a full sized bat (maybe 30" or so). It was the perfect size to put a discarded Dixie Cup on the end and smashing it on the stadium floor with an echoing pop.

When cleaning out my mom's house after her death, I was surprised that someone found my favorite piece of clothing. It survived myself and some or all of my 9 brothers and sisters. It featured my favorite players, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris. 

I was not a good father. My first game was to see Mickey Mantle at Fenway. My daughter’s first game (age ten) was seeing Cliff Floyd of the 100+ loss Marlins against the Phillies at The Dump, err The Vet. It was our town’s youth baseball/softball night at the park. I think my daughter only wanted to go because all her friends went. She probably spent more time walking around than watching the game.

While still at The Dump my son’s first game (age 6) at least my son’s first game was Curt Schilling versus Kevin Brown (Dodgers). 

The first time I took him to a Fenway we walked up the ramp to the seats and his eyes lit up. The saucer eyes started crossing the bridge and continued on Landsdowne Street and all the way into the park.

My first MLB game was a trip to (Old) Yankee Stadium in the late '60's or early '70's.   Dad worked for IBM in Endicott and was a member of the IBM Country Club.   The Club often had day trips to NY to see either Mets or Yankees games.   Don't remember who they played or who won.  I do remember many of the older gentlemen playing cards and smoking cigars on the way to and from the game.   Later that year we went to a Met's game - I believe it was Old Timers day (or was that the Yankee's game?  Can't remember).

Son's first MLB game was a trip to Camden Yards.   One he won't forget.'   We arrived early and after finding our seats wandered around.  An Orioles representative approached us and asked if my son would like to be part of the pre-game ceremonies or help change the bases after the 5th inning.  He chose to change the bases.   So after the 2nd inning I escorted him to the prearranged meeting spot and went back to my seat.  After the 5th he came out with the ground crew from right field and changed 1st base - 25' from his heroes.  Later he told me they showed him the club house and the bull pen.   As he waited one of the pitchers walked right by him.

That same day my wife, who had traveled to Denver to visit friends and family, was at a Rockies game (their game was starting about the time the O's game ended).  This was in late August  or September.   It was 95 F in Baltimore that day and 40 F in Denver at game time.  It was a great day for baseball for us.

1969 Expos at Jarry Park, the little bandbox that was home till The Big Owe was built for the 76 Olympics. The Expos were bad, but the park was a lot of fun, and the names, and the way the announcers pronounced them(think heavy French accent) were priceless. John Boccabella, Coco Laboy, Le Grand Orange(Rusty Staub), Manny Mota, Mudcat Grant, Maury Wills, Dick Radatz, Steve Renko, all led by Gene Mauch...the names alone were funny enough.

   Montreal fans had some idea of how to act at baseball games, as they had the AAA Montreal Royals for years, but in general they made it up on the fly. Drinking, singing, and cheering for the slightest of reasons was totally normal. They had a dancing Beerman, singing peanut guy, fans pleading with umpires for calls. It was pretty good humoured, if not downright riotous. 

   A few years later, the Dawson/Carter/Raines Expos became a really good team, moved into the cavernous Olympic Stadium, but a lot of the charm was lost.

To be included, my second game was at Fenway. It wound up being the longest game in American League history (at the time) and we left early to beat the traffic.  Hubby was livid....even more so when we got to the car and heard all the roaring and we were blocked in.

But my first game:  I had been married about 4 months when we traveled to the Bay area and my uncle bought us Giants tickets in the old Candlestick park (1989).   My aunt encouraged me to wear a sweater.  As we were parking the car, i watched in horror all the people walking in with down coats, blankets, hats, etc.  I nearly froze to death during that game until I snuggled under my new-friend-on-the-other-side blanket!

Plus, it was 0-0 in the 9th I think and I thought it was the most boring game.  What did I know?

@keewart posted:

To be included, my second game was at Fenway. It wound up being the longest game in American League history (at the time) and we left early to beat the traffic.  Hubby was livid....even more so when we got to the car and heard all the roaring and we were blocked in.

But my first game:  I had been married about 4 months when we traveled to the Bay area and my uncle bought us Giants tickets in the old Candlestick park (1989).   My aunt encouraged me to wear a sweater.  As we were parking the car, i watched in horror all the people walking in with down coats, blankets, hats, etc.  I nearly froze to death during that game until I snuggled under my new-friend-on-the-other-side blanket!

Plus, it was 0-0 in the 9th I think and I thought it was the most boring game.  What did I know?

 

I was living in Southern CA dating a woman in San Francisco. We got together on weekends and when I had to travel to SF for work. One Saturday she had a commitment during the day . So I went to Candelstick. It was May. I wore shorts and a tee under warmups and a jacket. Over the course of the game I was dressed in every combination. 

It was not the first game I went to but it is the first one I really remember. And I remember a lot about it. July 22, 1977. Three Rivers Stadium. Pirates (my team) v The Big Red Machine. 

The Reds had 3 hall of famers in the lineup that night: Morgan, Bench and Seaver. And the guy with the most hits ever played thirdbase. They also had Griffey Jr's dad, George Foster who once hit 52 jacks in a year, Driesen and Concepcion.

Candelaria pitched for the Pirates, and hit an astro-turf aided triple.

Joe Morgan hit a homer late off of Terry Forster to force extra innings. The Pirates walked it off when Dave Parker hit a double and Bill Robinson singled him in.

So much of that is stuck in my mind

1977.  my dad had a trip to Los Angeles for work and I came with him.  I'd been to many AAA games up to that point (Hawaii Islanders played about 4 blocks from our house) but had never been out of the state so i'd never been to a mlb game.  I don't recall which one was first but we took I 2 games that trip. We saw Nolan Ryan strike out 10 in 6 innings for the Angels and we also saw Steve Garvey hit a HR (Dodgers are/were my team) and Lou Brock steal a base at Chavez Ravine. 

Yankee Stadium, around 1980, family trip to NYC.  I really didn't like baseball back then, so I was kind of like "do we have to go?"  All I remember is that Reggie Jackson was my mother's favorite player, and he got tossed after his first at-bat for arguing a call.  My dad was fascinated by Dave Winfield's salary, he divided it by 365, and used to refer to money in "Winfield days" (he earned about $6300 per day, was it?), as in, dad's salary was xx Winfield days, our car cost .xx Winfield days.

Second game was the first time I visited my future husband's hometown of Chicago, he wanted to show me everything in just five days.  So, we went to a daytime Cubs game . . . for about 3 innings.  Ate a hot dog, then headed back to the Loop to watch closing at the Board of Trade.  The only other time I was at Wrigley was Tom Glavine's 300th win.

My dad took my brother and myself to our first LA Dodger game to meet Claude Osteen (pitcher).  Claude took us around the dugout, bullpen and in the end gave us an autographed baseball (weeks later he later followed that up with an autographed ball with 15 - 20 names on it).  Looking back, it was a huge impression he made on us kids, and I still haven't forgotten it, and yes I still have the balls.

1970 Shea Stadium for Mets vs. Braves as an 8 year old birthday gift on a warm Sunday on Flag Day June 14.  Seaver pitched a complete game and I had the best two Hot Dogs of my life.

Never saw anything greener than that diamond when we came out of the tunnel.

TMM's first MLB game was a 1991 Braves game against the visiting Padres, a few months before his second birthday. The Tomahawk Chop was very popular at the time and he joined in and had a blast. A couple weeks later we were at a Hi-A Prince William Cannons game (Yankees affilliate) and he started chopping to cheer on the team.  I had to tell him that the chop was solely a Braves thing. Now that I think about it, he may have thought it was an every game thing since we watched a lot of Braves games on the TBS Superstation. One Halloween his mom made a Braves uniform for him. The Braves were (and might still be) his favorite team.

My first game was an A's game at the Oakland Coliseum, but no one in my family remembers which one it was. The first MLB games I remember watching were televised --  "Billy Ball" games during the first A's Rickey Henderson era. Around the same age, my Dad tricked me into keeping book during games by telling me it was a great privilege. In reality, I think he wanted to give me something to do besides pester him for cotton candy and malts. He and I still keep  paper books while watching live baseball games. Thanks to MLB.com, my son is as big an American League West fan (A's and Angels) as he is a Phillies fan. 

Tuesday, June 18, 1968. Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

My grandmother's brother visited. I had never met him before. He found out I kept score for all the Cardinals games while listening on the radio but had never been to a game. Got us box seats in the 7th row just beyond the first base bag. 

Nelson Briles threw a complete game shutout, scattering 8 hits with no walks and only 3 K's as the Cardinals beat  the Chicago Cubs 1-0 on Bobby Tolan's home run to right field in the fifth inning off Bill Hands. I can still see the arc of that shot in my mind's eye. 

I did not have a happy childhood. Broken home with a lot of turmoil. That was one of the best days of it.

Some great stories here!  I can't remember the specific game, but it was at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium - probably around 1975.  It was very exciting and I remember the stadium was huge!  Went with my father (now deceased) who was a big baseball fan.

@Qhead posted:

Some great stories here!  I can't remember the specific game, but it was at the old Cleveland Municipal Stadium - probably around 1975.  It was very exciting and I remember the stadium was huge!  Went with my father (now deceased) who was a big baseball fan.

Was that you in the back row?

Yes, and behind the pole!  Gives new meaning to "cavernous", huh?  Good thing we now have Progressive Field which is a gem.