Baseball Memories

[AstrosFan]

My dad tells me about the time a friend invited him to see the new ballpark the Astros had. This was in 1965, and they were breaking in the Astrodome with an exhibition against the Yankees. My dad and his friend saw Mickey Mantle hit the first home run ever in that stadium. It's not my memory, but as an Astros fan, it thrills me to hear it. You saw Mickey Mantle hit the first home run in Astrodome history, Dad? Un-freakin-real.

[Iron Jaw]

My dad tells me about the time a friend invited him to see the new ballpark the Astros had. This was in 1965, and they were breaking in the Astrodome with an exhibition against the Yankees. My dad and his friend saw Mickey Mantle hit the first home run ever in that stadium. It's not my memory, but as an Astros fan, it thrills me to hear it. You saw Mickey Mantle hit the first home run in Astrodome history, Dad? Un-freakin-real.

Mick hit the homerun off Astro pitcher, Dick Farrell. But as an Astro fan, you'd be pleased to know the Astros won that exhibition 2-1 in 11 innings.

For the defending AL Champion Yankees, coming back from a loss to my favorite team of all-time (1964 Cardinals) in the World Series, losing was something they would have to get used to for a change. They were below average in 1965, and finished in 10th place, dead last in the AL, a year later.

[The Kid]

2004 WS is easily top memory for me.

[Sirmudgeon]

If we're lucky, Mr. Shoemaker will regale us with some of his tales of yore. Until then, I've got a few memories, starting with everyone's semi-favourite clown, Jose Canseco. He was in his third or fourth year, he and McGwire were the Bash Brothers, I was living in Berkeley, working nights, would go to A's day games- when the sun shone, one could almost overlook the Coliseum, a pretty bland ballpark at the time (got better with upgrades, especially to the food). We had tailgated before the game, Raiders-style, and were fairly buzzed by the time we got inside. We've watched Mac park one to left, early in the game, and are boozily wondering if Jose will match him. He comes up later, people are buzzing a little bit but not everyone is paying close enough attention, because he turns on one early in the count and hits a screaming line drive foul into the stands down the 3B line. We hear a thwock, there is some milling about in the stands, then some emergency techs carry a stunned fan away on a stretcher (I later learned no lasting damage was done, thank goodness). My friend and I looked at each other, semi-sobered up right quick, and never again would we look away when Canseco was up. I'll never forget how sudden it all was- Canseco turned on that pitch like something superhuman, the sound of the foul drive seemed to merge with the melon-like concussive strike, it was surreal. We had also heard about his athletic feats in the outfield, what impressed us most was Dwayne Murphy playing center and left-center, Jose didn't move too much. He was a drawing card, though, no one knew quite what to make of him. Power, speed, perfect hair, implausible muscles, little brain-mouth connection, and even then, we'd all heard about the Jose Canseco Milkshake.