Up until the age of
7 I was a
Brooklyn Dodger fan mainly because my dad was one as was everyone in my neighborhood in Brooklyn. There may have been a Yankee fan or two, but they kept their mouths shut for fear of daily beatings.
In 1957 the traitors played their last game in Brooklyn and moved to LA leaving me without a team.:cussin: Cheering for the Yankees was not an option. Even if they didn't move, I just couldn't get excited about the Giants.
Finally, in 1958 or 1959 (in between being Eddie Graham and body slamming kids in the neighborhood) I found the Baltimore Orioles with whom I stayed with for over 40 years. Why Baltimore??? I think it was because Baltimore and Brooklyn both started with the letter
"B." But, maybe not. I don't remember.
In any case, my all time favorite player became 16 time golden glove winner -
Brooks Robinson. Guys like Jim Palmer, Boog Powell, Dave McNally, Luis Aparicio, Frank Robinson, etc., etc. made up some of the greatest teams in baseball history while I was a fan of the O's.
My son and I were present when
Cal Ripken got his
3,000th hit at the Minneapolis Metrodome against the Twins on Saturday, April 15, 2000. I remember how we planned it out.
The Birds were coming in for a 3 game series on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday with Cal
3 hits shy of 3,000. The odds were against him getting 3 hits in one game. We figured if he got 2 on Friday we would see number 3,000 on Saturday. Also, on Friday I would have had to pick up my son immediately after work and fight rush hour traffic to the game. Sunday wasn't an option, because the O's already let it be known that they weren't going to risk playing Ripken and his bad back on turf in an afternoon game following a night game (on Saturday).
To make a long story a little less long, Cal made out his first time up and we figured we wouldn't see the historic 3,000 that night.fpalm We were WRONG! The next three at bats he got singles and they stopped the game.:dance Ripken's wife and kids were there and came onto the field. Then he took a victory lap while 50,000 Twins fans almost brought down the roof with their cheers.
Yeah, even at the age of 8 I was pretty astute picking out a team like the Orioles! :bs:
- Mike
EACH FAN RECEIVED A CERTIFICATE STATING "I WAS THERE FOR CAL RIPKEN'S 3,000TH HIT."
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