OT: The one player you regret not seeing play IP
 

Who is your one player that you had a chance to see play in person, but never got around to it.

Mine, Barry Bonds or Griffey in a Mariners uni.


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Probably Roger Clemens and Greg Maddux.

I also wish I remembered seeing Roberto Clemente play. I went to a game in San Diego in 1971 where the Padres played the Pirates. I just don't remember if Clemente played in the game. All I remember is that it was Bat Day, where something like the first 10,000 kids through the gates got a full-sized wooden baseball bat. I was eight years old at the time.

Steve

If you look at the box scores for the '71 Pirates, they only played in SD on two different away stands. I'm guessing your game was on a weekend if it was bat day. See this link:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/te...e-scores.shtml

Being from an AL city, I didn't get to see NL guys from the 1980s like Schmidt. I didn't mind though, it was part of the mystique of the pre-interleague era.

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Boy, you guys must be young! I'll go with Ted Williams.

Best always,

Larry

Re: OT: The one player you regret not seeing play IP
 

Brent,

When I read that you posted Barry Bonds I immediately thought of my vacation in 2007.

The wife and I planned a trip to San Francisco. As is our custom, we always choose cities where
we could include catching a baseball game. It was the summer Barry Bonds was chasing Hank
Aaron for the HR record. I have to admit that while I despised Bonds, I did get caught up in the
HR frenzy. I asked the wife if we wanted to go to the Monday or Tuesday Giants game.
We chose the Monday night game. I distinctly recall every pitch that was thrown to Bonds that
night flashbulbs from every corner of the stadium lit up.

Well, as luck would have it Bonds went 0 for something Monday night. The next night we
watched him break the HR record from our hotel room. If I didn't like him before hand, well,
it gave me all the more reason to dislike him even more!

ErikV

By the way, I would have like to have seen Randy Johnson pitch at least once.

Although i did see chipper in person, I had tix to go to his last game at shea. Wound up not going, but really wish i used those tix.

To me, batting in person has always seemed not that much different than on TV, whereas fielding seems to take on an extra dimension. Therefore, in my generation, Ozzie who was over in the other league.

hands down,
 

Roberto clemente

Thank you Dan! I have looked and looked for something like that, but could never find it. I even contacted the Padres, and they said they didn't have any records for when Bat Day/Night was in 1971.

It was probably the Friday, Jul 23rd game. It wouldn't have been the first series in May, as that was mid-week during the school year. It also wouldn't have been the Saturday game on Jul 24th, as the attendance was only 3,114. I also don't remember it being a doubleheader, so that rules out Sunday Jul 25th. Also, the games Saturday and Sunday were both day games, and I do remember the game being at night.

Unfortunately that leaves only Friday, Jul 23, 1971, and Clemente did not play in the game :( But hey, Pops hit his 32nd home run of the season in the game :)

Steve

Bench.

Jackie. And, I count my self fortunate that I got to see my bb idol Teddy in a spring '58 exhibition game at Westgate Park in SD.

My sports watching lifetime:

Baseball: Nolan Ryan

Football: Barry Sanders

Basketball: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Hockey: Wayne Gretzky

My all-time list:

Baseball: Mordecai Brown vs. Christy Mathewson

Football: Jim Brown

Basketball: Kareem

Hockey: Gretzky

I would have loved to be in attendance for a title fight featuring Ali in his prime. Not so much because I'm a boxing fan but because of the electricity in the crowd that goes along with a heavyweight title bout.

My dad and I had season tickets (Sunday Plan, 13 games per year) at Veteran's Stadium in Philadelphia from 1980-1986. This was before Interleague play, so the AL players who were at the top of their game at that point in time was not on my radar...until the '83 World Series.

The Phillies drew first blood; however, lost in five games.

I wish that my focus expanded to the "other league" and I inspired my dad to take a road trip to Baltimore and watched Cal Ripken, Jr. when I was younger. I love the game now and wish that hometown loyalties did not stunt my growth so much.

Rube Waddell.... Oh you mean during my lifetime... Eh, I'm good.

I have been lucky and have seen all the baseball players I have ever wanted to see over the last 30 years.

The only person I would have loved to see live in person that I did not is Alonzo Mourning, he is my all time favorite basketball player. Weirdly he is the only big star from that era I did not see live.

Mickey Mantle. I started going to games in 1970 and even though I am a die hard Mets fan I loved the Original Yankee Stadium and would have loved to see Mick playing for the Yanks

I was a big Nolan Ryan fan as a kid, but never saw him pitch.

I have a great story that is somewhat related.

About 18 or 20 years ago my dad and I were discussing different players we had seen. He grew up in New York and I in New Jersey so we had both been to many games in both leagues.

I said he was lucky because he saw Mays, Mantle, Aaron and others in that era. He even went to a Yankees game in 1948 with my grandfather to see DiMaggio play. My dad was only 6 at the time.

He reminded me that I had seen some great players as well. I saw Ryan pitch, Bench and Rose, Schmidt. Even saw Brett, Yount, and others in the AL.

About this time we were both feeling pretty good about our respective list when my 88 year old (at the time) grandmother looked up from her needle point and said "When I was a teenager a man in my church took me and a friend to the Yankees game and I saw Babe Ruth hit a home run.":eek:

Needless to say we both knew who won that discussion.

Love that story.

As far as the OP question. I guess I wish I saw a Randy Johnson pitch. I've still yet to see Pujols play but I did go to a Braves game last Saturday night against the Marlins and saw Ichiro for the first time. That was cool.

Drew

Stan Musial with Ted Williams a close second.

Henry Louis Aaron, the real home run king

You certainly got that title right, Rich!

Highest regards,

Larry

OT: The one player you regret not seeing play IP
 

The firsy player to come to my mind was Willie Mays.



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Mantle. I was old enough to have gone and maybe remembered him had my dad taken me to old Comiskey towards the end of Mantle's career.

Clemente for me. We lived in Oakland, so I saw most of the AL starts of the time but visits to Candlestick were rare as my dad didn't like to drive over to SF.

Although I did take the bus a time or two before I was able to drive myself Candlestick was located in a not-so-great neighborhood but the last time Clemente came through I was only 12 years old and wasn't quite that brave.

My top 10:

1. Aaron
2. Clemente
3. Mays
4. Brett
5. Ryan
6. Rose
7. Seaver (with Mets)
8. Griffey, Jr. (saw him with Reds but wish I'd seen him with the M's)
9. Henderson
10. Reggie

I coached two players who both made the show. Regret never seeing either of them in a big league game. Both have battled injuries and not sure if they will get another shot

Matt Lecroy

The bird

Nolan Ryan during his great Angels years.
Hank Aaron.
Muhammad Ali/Joe Frazier/Ken Norton/George Foreman during their contests with each other.

Nolan Ryan. I was in high school when he retired and my dad was in the military preparing for my sisters wedding, raising 3 more kids at home and Dallas 6 hours away (during that time speed limit was 55).
Now I am able to take my kids to a game once a year and it is still 6 hours away at 75 mph. My kids have seen Pujols, Trout, Hamilton, Cruz, Jeter ect. At least they will be able to say I watched my favorites play. Something I can give my kids that my parents could not afford too when I was growing up.

I was able to see Brooks Robinson play in 1976. Got to see Johnny Unitas and the other former Colts run One last Play at Memorial Stadium after the Ravens played their final game before moving to their new stadium. Would have loved seeing Unitas in his prime. But above all else I would have loved to have been in the stands the day Babe Ruth called his shot in the World Series.