That game was a Saturday afternoon. I was there, drove to Chicago from Cincinnati. We parked in someone's front yard (he was selling space), walked to Wrigley, stood in line at the ticket window, when it was my turn I asked for 4 tickets, he looked at me and said "the game is sold out." Stunned, I regrouped and looked at him, he said I could get 4 SRO seats... standing room only.
I hadn't driven for hours for nothing, we got 4 SRO tickets. Stood in right field, upper deck, behind the seating, for 7 innings. Finally went over to left field and found seats.
While standing, I was beside an older fellow who was talking to his grandson. He spoke softly, instructlively, and only between pitches. About the 3rd inning, maybe, I started a slow paced conversation with him. He was from New York and was taking his Chicago grandson to a ballgame. He knew quite a bit about baseball. He seemed reverent and respectful of the game's history. He'd seen ballgames from back when St. Louis was the farthest west the teams were. I asked him who his favorite team was... I can still see the side of his face as he gazed out across the grass of Wrigley... "The Giants," he said; "the New York Giants." And he didn't have to say that 50 years later he'd still not forgiven them for moving to San Francisco.
I'm gonna go look for that ticket stub...
He was the dominant closer for several years. I can still see those pitches go about 55 feet toward the plate, and the bottom falls out. Bruce was a substantial reason the Cardinals won the 1982 World Series. Prayers for his family.
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