Baseball Live Lasts

[Runscott]

What memorable 'final events' have you personally witnessed in baseball?

My favorites were:

1. Nolan Ryan's last no-hitter. I had seen so many close calls for him, that I didn't get excited until it was actually over and he was being swamped at the mound. Plus, I was sick - it was the first game I ever attended as an adult, where I didn't have a beer.
2. Griffey Jr's last home run. Whipped it over the right field wall on a rope.
[3]. Lou Piniella's last ejection? In 2010 the Cubs came to town and Piniella came on the field and started kicking dirt all over the place. Everyone was laughing and clapping and it looked almost like he was performing for us. It was great. I don't remember the exact date of the Seattle ejection, but I know he also got ejected in July of that year, in Los Angeles.

[steve B]

Only one I think. Havliceks last game. I was living near Boston. Someone dad knew had tickets to a game in Hartford that was postponed because the civic center roof collapsed. At the end of the season the game was played in Boston and the person didn't want to go, so we got the tickets.

Pretty neat.

Steve B

[Runscott]

Only one I think. Havliceks last game. I was living near Boston. Someone dad knew had tickets to a game in Hartford that was postponed because the civic center roof collapsed. At the end of the season the game was played in Boston and the person didn't want to go, so we got the tickets.

Pretty neat.

Steve B

I thought he was a basketball player?

[Jlighter]

I thought he was a basketball player?

He is.

[familytoad]

Well these are probably trivial in nature, but it is intermission of the Red Wings game and I'm browsing around the n54 board.

Most recently, the Portland Beavers PCL team left town in favor of Major league soccer (say what?) the ballpark was remodeled to fit the soccer field better. This means no baseball in the area. I even read that the greater
Portland, OR area is the largest population in America with no professional baseball :(

I went to the Beavers last game:mad:

Willy Mo Pena gave my son's friend his batting glove. We got a couple baseballs tossed our way too.

Prior to this, and even more trivial, I went to a Red Sox game to see what should have been HOFer Jim Rice (say what?) last game. He didn't play and rumor had it that he wasn't even there after some riff with Sox management.
The only reason I really mention it is that I was able to migrate to home plate seats after the 5th or 6th inning and that was the first time I was so up close to the big leagues that I could hear them talking during the game. Kinda cool.

[Runscott]

Seriously, no more Portland Beavers? That's nuts. Another reason for me not to move down the road to Portland.

Well these are probably trivial in nature, but it is intermission of the Red Wings game and I'm browsing around the n54 board.

Most recently, the Portland Beavers PCL team left town in favor of Major league soccer (say what?) the ballpark was remodeled to fit the soccer field better. This means no baseball in the area. I even read that the greater
Portland, OR area is the largest population in America with no professional baseball :(

I went to the Beavers last game:mad:

Willy Mo Pena gave my son's friend his batting glove. We got a couple baseballs tossed our way too.

Prior to this, and even more trivial, I went to a Red Sox game to see what should have been HOFer Jim Rice (say what?) last game. He didn't play and rumor had it that he wasn't even there after some riff with Sox management.
The only reason I really mention it is that I was able to migrate to home plate seats after the 5th or 6th inning and that was the first time I was so up close to the big leagues that I could hear them talking during the game. Kinda cool.

[Smanzari]

I know it is not as cool as any of yours- but I attended Chipper Jones's Last game and the first NL Wild Card Game last year. It was probably the craziest game I ever went to, too bad that Chipper had an uneventful one...

[r2678]

Last home game of the Milwaukee Braves.

[alanu]

This is very trivial to most and I'm not even a Dodgers fan, but

most recently I went to a Las Vegas 51's game an couple of years ago and Gagne was down for a rehab stint with the Dodgers and the 51's took the lead in the bottom of the 8th and Gagne came in to close the game.

Others for me would be going to Baltimore and seeing Cal Ripken play in Memorial Stadium, and watching Nolan Ryan throw a bullpen session at Wrigley.

[Runscott]

You guys are very unfocused.

Okay, I'll open it up to all sports (even board games), but the subject is still 'LAST', as in something that happened for the last time. For instance, if you went to the premiere of a movie, that would be a FIRST. If you saw Babe Ruth play in 1930, that would be a 'MIDDLE'.

Here are examples of irrelevant LAST events: I was at the Wrigley Field game where Andre Dawson hit for the cycle for the last time in his career :) I was also at the game where the Houston Astros turned 7 double-plays for the last time in their history. I was at Turner Field for the last time the Astros beat the Braves in a playoff game in that stadium. And finally, I was at Comiskey Park when Harold Baines' number was retired for the last time. :p

[steve B]

I thought he was a basketball player?

Yeah, somehow I missed the "baseball" part of it.

Does the last game Yaz played before hit #3000 count? Probably not.....Plenty of unimportant lasts.

Steve B

[Runscott]

Yeah, somehow I missed the "baseball" part of it.

Does the last game Yaz played before hit #3000 count? Probably not.....Plenty of unimportant lasts.

Steve B

Steve, I was messing with you.

I thought maybe a few people on the board, especially older guys, had been to some historic 'last' games, but it sounds like not.

Guess I've been unusually lucky.

[frankbmd]

I went to Anaheim in 1989 to see the last game of the year, thinking that it might be Ryan's final game as well. He needed 13 Ks to reach 300 for the year.
If it proved to be his last game, I was going to get him to sign the ticket stub.

Well it was the strangest game I ever attended, because Anaheim still loved Nolan and suspected that this was his last game as well. The crowd went wild every time an Angel struck out. When Nolan hit 300, the crowd erupted.

Unfortunately Nolan went on to pitch 4 more years. Never got the auto and I don't know where the ticket stub is.

[Runscott]

I went to quite a few Astros games, intent on seeing Ryan break Walter Johnson's career strikeout record. He really struggled during that period and ultimately did it in an away game. I do have a really cool Astros program with both Ryan and Johnson on the cover - hope to get Ryan to sign it someday.

Later, I did the same thing when he was trying to get his 300th win. Missed that one as well.

Then I accidentally attended a game and he threw his final no-hitter. I was getting over the flu and had just come back to work. Some friends at work had an extra ticket and literally had to beg me to go to the game. I couldn't even drink a beer I felt so bad. Felt better on the way home from the game :)