Independence Day Contest! CHIEF WINS IT! CONTEST IS OVER!

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KCLJ520

Veteran
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5.00 star(s)
Joined
Feb 8, 2011
Messages
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Location
Southern Illinois
Hello all,

I am jumping on here to capitalize on our friend David K's generosity giving away an awesome Pujols card today, and in honor of our great Independence Day, as well as the projected start of the baseball season in just a few weeks, I am giving away a custom cut signature card, of my own creation!

You are playing for a Kolten Wong Cardinals custom, I just finished this one on Tuesday, and am excited to send to a good home!


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Pick a number between 1 and 75, one guess total per member, and please with your guess, tell me when your first baseball game was!

Mine was August 23rd, 1988 with my beloved Grandparents who raised me, my Grandfather was one of the news editors of the Chicago Tribune, so he loved the Cubs, and frequently got tickets through the Trib. This particular day, the Cubs beat the Astros at Wrigley! Jamie Moyer pitched a 9 K complete game, Andre Dawson hit a home run, and I got to see Ryne Sandberg and Shawon Dunston in action in the infield! Just such special memories, our seats were near the announcers booth, and Harry Caray waved to me on his way out of the booth! True thrills for 7 year old me, and I have loved baseball so much ever since!

Your turn!!

Blessings,

Kevin
 
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I will guess 27

First game was 1982 at Atlanta Fulton County Stadium watching the Reds and Braves, Reds won 5-3.

Thanks,
Dennis
 
#72 please

The one I can remember the most was the middle 70s with my pop he worked overtime all week and I didn’t understand why until Friday night we left for Baltimore and Saturday I fell in love with the Old Gray Lady memorial stadium. Baltimore Orioles for life. And you know I can close my eyes at Camden yards smel the peanuts and remember that day forever
 
thanks for the contest
i am picking number 21
my first baseball game was in 1953 i think
went to old forbes field in pgh my aunt who was a big pirate fan took my twin brother and i to game there used to be the left field bleachers beside the hugh scoreboard in left it was 25 cents for kids at the time and 50 cents for adults to sit in the bleachers any way if my hero at the time didnt come to bat in the 8th or 9th inning the bleachers would empty well it just happen to be my hero did come to bat in the bottom of the 9th and hit a home run to win the game been a fan ever ssince for the pirates have another story to tell but not now can anyone guess who my here was
chief
 
36

I actually cannot remember if this was my first game or not, but it was the first I can remember.

05/05/1997 @Baltimore vs Oakland. Rocky Coppinger pitched a 3 hit shutout into the 7th and got pulled. Roberto Alomar hit a grand slam and Ripken went 3-3 before being substituted in the 7th or 8th. Baltimore won 11-0.
One of only a few games where I can remember going with my grandfather before he passed. It was a fun game, with a blowout and I can remember cheering loud for Alomar's GS.
 
Numbers chosen: 21, 27, 36, 72

Zlw1, so awesome you got to see Cal Ripken play, he is a class act and a true legend of the game! An Alomar grand slam must have been just incredible!

Dennis, the Reds were THE team for so long, great players and the Big Red Machine dominated for a long time!

Steve, your memories are so special! I loved how you can remember and describe how you felt back then, how you still feel about baseball now!

Chief, I looked at the Pirates roster for 1953, and they have some talent! Joe Garagiola, Frank Thomas, Cal Abrams.... at first I thought Dick Groat, as you had said you were family friends, but I think he got called up in 1952 and sent back to the minors in '53.....I'm going to guess your hero was Ralph Kiner!

Blessings,

Kevin
 
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I will try #19

The first game I can remember was in 1987 in old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. Joe Carter hit a walk off home run. I think they were playing the Orioles. If nobody had ever been there, the one thing you can remember about Municipal Stadium was how big it was. I t help close to 80,000 people and there were about 3,000 there.
 
hi, 62 please

my 1st game was in back in 60's we lived across street from st. louis cardinals field and could watch/hear game from back porch of our apartment !
 
46 please.

I also witnessed an Andre Dawson home rum at Wrigley Field. Didn't they call him the Hawk? Thanks for the contest.
 
Ill go with 41. My first game was early 1989, candlestick park, where my parents took me to watch the giants play. I went to 8 or 9 games that season, and still have a ticket stub from one of the games. Good times in the ice cold windy upper deck
 
Numbers chosen: 19, 21, 27, 36, 41, 46, 59, 62, 72

mm1sub, how awesome....Memorial Stadium is, or was, also home to the NFL Browns, I believe?

littleredjacks, we are in the Metro East STL area, so Cardinals Nation! Great fan following here, neat to see some good teams in recent years! Even cooler that you were that close....was it Sportsman's Park in those days?

anglinomics, yes, Andre was the Hawk, and while I remember him best as a Cub, he went into the Hall of Fame with an Expos cap, since he spent most of his years there. In fact, the theory is that the astroturf in Montreal was bad on his knees, which limited his playing time as he aged, though I'd say Andre still had a pretty awesome career!

reickholt, thanks for guessing, any fun baseball memories? Would love to hear!

Rooster, you are welcome to guess a number if you would like, thanks!

89Giants, your name is the team that I remember so well! Our friends from SF used to come through Chicago in the summers doing a ballpark tour, they usually hit 8-10 ballparks in 10-12 days over the summer, and could check Miller Park, Wrigley, and Comiskey off quickly if they timed their games right! These guys were so kind, and always brought me tons of baseball cards, some of which I still have to this day! That is so awesome that your first game you remember was that year, and I have been to Candlestick, and anyone who calls Chicago the Windy City is full of it! SF is WAAAAY windier and chillier!!

Blessings,

Kevin
 
I will take number 2, for this reason related to my first game

August 3, 1983 Twins V Angels at the Metrodome. I was 10 at the time and my favorite player was a scrappy 2nd baseman (who originally came up as a 3rd baseman in 1979 and won co ROY award in the AL, and moved to 2nd to make way for a guy named Gaetti in MN) John Castino may not of had the press of some of his team mates (Gaetti, Brunansky, Hrbek, Viola) but he was the heart and soul of those early 80's Twins teams, and I think would have been a key contributor to the sucess of the 1987 World Series team had he not had to retire. I was excited also because he got an infield single in this game and my 10 year old mind was blown..."he's got to be fast to leg out an infield single" I remember distinctively saying to my brother. The key moment in the game though came when Rod Carew got his 2800th hit. I could not understand why they were cheering for the opposition, but later realized it was a pretty cool thing to see at your first ML game.

Castino's number was 2
 
Numbers chosen: 2, 19, 21, 27, 36, 39, 41, 46, 59, 62, 72

Leon, one of my favorite players of all time played for the A's, Bobby Shantz was awesome, one of the best not in the HOF in my opinion!!

Kirbyfan34, love your story, how awesome that you got to see Rod make history, and Castino was a great and underrated player!!

Blessings,

Kevin
 
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I'll take #7.
My first major league game was an exhibition game between the Mariners and Padres at PGE park in Portland. It was in 01 I believe as I remember it being Ichiros rc year. I could be mistaken. My first regular season Game was in 2002 at Yankee Stadium. I was chaperoning some my students on a trip and we decided to catch a game and bought some cheap bleacher seats. Watched the Yankees crush the Rays. Funny enough, my next game was also at New York in 2018 and we watched the Yankees play the Rays again, this time in the new stadium.
Thanks for the contest.
 
Numbers chosen: 2, 7, 19, 21, 27, 36, 39, 41, 46, 59, 62, 72

Journeyman, very awesome recollections, and so cool that you got to make it to Yankee Stadium! The House that Ruth built is legendary!!

Blessings,

Kevin
 
I'll take 15 please. First game ever was a Royals game. Ended up getting the cheap seats at the top of the Stadium, As a kid it was pretty scary looking virtually straight down. I kept thinking on what would happen if i dropped my drink.
 
Numbers chosen: 2, 7, 15, 19, 21, 27, 36, 39, 41, 46, 59, 62, 72

cornwellfamily, LOVE the Royals!! Have never been to Kauffman though, hopefully going within the next few years! How cool that you got to go!

Blessings,

Kevin
 
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