I Remember My First Game

[MSBNYY]

A common quote in the bleachers, but I would think that in reality, most of us DO remember our first games very well (unless we were taken as an infant).

Obviously, I've told my story before. Justin is sick of it

But let this thread be for the story of your first game at Yankee Stadium.

[Domi]

I'll bite.

My first game was April 1, 1989. I was almost 8 years old and my grandparents took me to an exhibition game whilst I was visiting them during my spring break.

We sat in the upper deck, section 36 by the foul pole in LF.

I remember basically nothing about the game besides a Darryl Strawberry HR and the Yankees supporters mocking him with a "Daaaaryyl, Daaaaryyl" chant. And being in awe of how huge the Stadium looked from my seat.

Here's the New York Times story of the game (apparently Ron Darling was removed in the middle of a no-hitter, who knew?):

BASEBALL '89; Yanks Beat Mets, But Darling Stars

By MICHAEL MARTINEZ
Published: April 2, 1989

There was no sun and no sign of a pennant race, but there was baseball in New York yesterday. The Yankees and the Mets, crosstown rivals to their fans although nothing more than spring training opponents to each other, met on a cool and mostly cloudy day at Yankee Stadium. Summer finally beckoned.

There was also no Mayor's Trophy to be handed out to a winner, as there was in the past, but there was excitement. The Yankees, patched together because of injuries, rallied from three runs down and beat the Mets, 4-3, even though they were held hitless by Ron Darling for the first five innings.

And even though their lineup consisted of six players who were not around one year ago, the Yankees seemed to gather life once Darling departed. They scored all of their runs in the seventh off Roger McDowell, and they broke the tie when Tom Brookens - acquired only 10 days ago from Detroit - singled to left-center against Randy Myers to send home Roberto Kelly with a head-first dive.

''This was different,'' said Dave Righetti, who pitched a scoreless ninth and has not given up a run in seven innings this spring. ''It was good for the team in a small way. Obviously we're not picked to win, we have guys who are hurting and the team is in a blah. But it didn't bother the fans.''

For the 52,119 fans who bundled up and attended, it might as well have been October. The Mets were at full strength, the Yankees were not: Rickey Henderson returned home to Oakland, Calif., to attend the funeral of his grandmother, and Don Mattingly stayed home in New Jersey resting his aching back.

''You'd like to see their opening day lineup,'' said Dwight Gooden, who watched from the dugout. ''But Dave Winfield's not here and Henderson is gone and Mattingly isn't healthy. The atmosphere is totally different from a regular game.''

Yet at the same time, it was not. When Darryl Strawberry stepped to the plate with a man on in the first inning to face Dave LaPoint, he was roundly booed by those who favored the Yankees. He then sent a pitch high toward right field, a home run that fell in the walkway between the bleachers and the box seats. Had he hit it farther to the right, the ball surely would have landed 10 rows into the upper deck.

When he took his defensive place in right, Strawberry was roundly booed by the bleacher patrons, loyal to their Yankees.

The Mets enjoyed most of the finer moments early while the Yankees struggled against Darling. The right-hander retired 15 of the 16 batters he faced – Howard Johnson's error at third allowed Kelly to reach base in the third – and stretched his string of scoreless innings this spring to 17.

But McDowell struggled as he has all spring, facing six batters in the seventh and giving up three hits and one walk. His earned run average ballooned from 7.90 to 10.05 as he lost for the fifth time this spring.

The best news for the Yankees might have come before the game, when it was learned that Mattingly, after X-rays and an examination Friday, has only spasms in his lower back.

''We'll take that as the good news for the day,'' said Manager Dallas Green. ''It's certainly more optimistic than when he walked out the door yesterday. But he apparently had a good night.''

Green said that Mattingly would probably stay home and rest today when the Yankees and Mets play again at Shea Stadium, but there remained no indication about his availability for Tuesday night's opener in Minnesota. Dr. Stuart Hershon, the team physician, said he could offer no more than to say that Mattingly's status is day to day.

So the afternoon was left to mostly Yankee reserves: Steve Balboni at first for Mattingly, Bernie Williams in left for Henderson, Mel Hall in right for Winfield and Alvaro Espinoza at short for Rafael Santana. There was no room for rivalries.

After the game, the Yankees announced they would send Bernie Williams and Randy Velarde to their minor league camp in Tampa for reassignment. With 25 players left, they still are one over the roster limit. . . . Henderson will also miss today's game and will not join the team until Monday in Minnesota, according to Green. . . . Gregg Jefferies, the Mets' rookie, had three doubles. . . . The home run by Strawberry was his fifth of the spring. . . . The Yankees have won three of the five games against the Mets this spring.

[MSBNYY]

Nice--right in the middle of Balboni's second Yankee tenure.

[Chris]

I don't recall the date, or even the year, although it was one of the two 70s championship seasons: 77 or 78.

I was living in Levittown at the time with my hippy parents at my grandparent's home.

My grandfather worked for Con Ed in Long Island City, and they had some sort of promotion where they either gave bleachers tickets or sold them to Con Ed employees (Larry remembers this) for some paltry amount.

I don't remember the game at all, but I do have vague recollections of being there with my "Pop Pop."

The running joke in my family for years after that was how I kept talking, in amazement, about the long metal piss-troughs in the men's room. I guess to me, as an 8 or 9 year old, they must have seemed massive.

EDIT: However, the first baseball game that I remember CLEARLY was when I moved to California the first time (I've had several stints back and forth) as youngster, my Dad knew I missed New York immensely, and I guess seeing how the Yankees/Dodgers rivalry was fresh in my mind, he thought it might be a good idea to take me to Dodger Stadium. This was 82 or 83. I remember the Terry Forster/Steve Yeager battery that day for the Dodgers against the Astros. It was photo day - kids allowed on the field. Somehow I had developed an affinity for Dusty Baker, and I had my photo taken with him on the warning track if I remember correctly. I should ask my old man if he has that pic.

[yanxchick]

I got an ARod signed baseball at my first game when he was with the Mariners.

I was older for good reason.

[cactusjames]

I forget the date, and I don't know where the ticket stub is(I have a tendency to save stubs from games, movies concerts etc I really enjoy), but I'll never forget my first game cause it was the Yanks first playoff game in years...game 1, Al Wild Card, Yanks vs Mariners. I was 9, got there early for BP and saw Donnie ripping the ball. I was first base side in the middle of first and the outfeild. I was actually so close that Donnie smacks one right down the first baseline into the corner. I went with my uncle and his girlfriend at the time's family. So me and her brother go walking over to the corner and he was able to squeeze his arm under and grab the ball Mattingly hit. That was fucking amazing for me, take me home there and it was worth it.

That is until the start of the game, when Donnie was introduced and that was the first time I got that feeling I wasn't seeing a normal game at a normal place, and TV couldn't do it justice. The game is a bit sketchy, I actually remember watching game two on tv the next night better cause of the extra innings win, but I remember it being close for a while in game 1, they pulled ahead and to cap it off, Don puts one into the stands in right feild and the place going fucking ape shit.

Kind of cool if I think of it, my first game in that stadium was Donnie's first playoff game, and one of my last games was Boone breaking Boston's heart. I saw games way before then on TV, Danny Tartabull was my favorite for a few years, but I know I'm admitting to being a front running yankee fan, but I can't help when I'm born and that's not a bad tenure at Yankee Stadium for me. It's not like 95 ended great, I never saw a championship celebrated on the field, I remember walking out of the stadium with two outs in the 9th in 03 cause I refused to watch the Marlins celebrate on our turf, and I can't even count how many times I saw the Red Sox and Mets beat the Yanks. But I think of my first game, I think the 3 home games in the 01 series, the two perfecto's, I think of Booney, I couldn't ask for a better time to grow into loving the Yankees. And if being alive before David Cone was a Met makes me more a Yankee fan, fuck it, I don't regret a thing.

But I take pride in the fact it all started with Donnie Baseball cracking a homer my first game in the Stadium.

[sancho231]

July 1st, 1994. the strike was looming, but that didn't stop my father finally owning up to his promise to take the family to a game. Right when we moved back to back to the bronx in the winter of 93, i begged the guy to take us. so he finally did.This was back when you could walk up day of game and get good seats for not much coin.We sat upper boxes section one, right behind the plate. last row of the upper boxes actually,the people walking the asile were inches form my head. i did not care.Yanks played Seattle that night, Unit pitched an we lost. other than that i don't remeber much other that the ruckus coming outta right field that i could not
understand> I asked my pops and he told me it was "the bleacher bums".I didn't get it. im pretty sure they yankees lost that night but it didn't matter. i was hooked. looking back about 14 years later, i didn't know how hooked i was.

[$heriff Tom]

I want to go home and check for that scorecard. Wonder if I was there, I was doing 60 or so games a year back then, and already in the bleachers. If you'd like, I would enjoy printing you out a copy of that scorecard, bad jokes and all, for your keepsakes.

When I first started going to games, and I dont remember my first trip to Yankee Stadium, sadly, I was an upper deck-ian. I used to do the old "top 8 rows" for 6 bucks or whatever it was, you could sit up there GA as long as you were up that high. I would cherrypick a seat or seats behind home plate.

I'll have more over due time.

[sancho231]

hells yeah! that would be cool.I barely remember my first game in the bleachers, but I'm pretty sure it was April of 95 right after the strike.you had to have been there for most of that season.

Edit checked baseball reference looks like my first game in the bleachers was may 6th 95, as they were no yankee home game in april

[$heriff Tom]

Ugh...bogus! I dont have the 1st of July, 1994. I DO have the 2nd, and oh boy was drinking involved, cause while some jokes are clearcut, the card is mad sloppy.

Wondering where I could have been that Friday night, especially when a wild Saturday at the Stadium was so obviously on tap. Maybe I will ressurect the Scorecard Memories thread with an account of that July 2nd, and the next tilt I encountered, 2 days later and Independence Day.

I was probably at Aces and Eights / Rock Ridge Saloon the night before, for $5 all you can drink beer from 5-10PM the night Sancho hit his first game!