May 12, 2008
Cigar Mike's Sermon on the Mound
Happy Monday infidels. Yesterday I completed my 43rd trip around the sun and spent the time driving through the Everglades and then watching the Marlins beat the Nats to sweep the weekend series. Can you believe it? The Fish have the best record in baseball as of 5/12.
In any event, seeing my 9 year old son becoming a baseball nut (he’s already a basketball fanatic) is special. He watches the games with his Grandpa when he’s there and at home, he watches the games with me (since I don’t watch anything else on TV during baseball season).
He’s memorized the players on all the teams. And like his father did many solar trips ago, he checks the daily sports page to see the standings and box scores. Of course, he also checks the internet too (something I did not have in the 1970’s).
Baseball surely has a way of bringing fathers and sons together. As a child, my home was unique when it came to baseball. My grandfather was a fan of the Reds and Dodgers. My dad was a die hard Mets fan. And I, a die hard Pittsburgh Pirate fan and a big time fanatic of Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. I got hooked on the Pirates during the 1971 season when they won the Series.
It was Clemente that made me a Pirate fan and I remained one until the Marlins came into town in the 1990’s.
Before there was cable, there was the Game of the Week, and I would always check the paper to see if the Pirates’ game was going to be broadcast; that was the special game. But even if there was no Pirate game, Saturday afternoons were the time to watch baseball. Even if I was watching the old Orioles or Red Sox, or Yanks, you always knew the players. And if your team didn’t make it (man I suffered in the 1970’s when the Bucs would lost to the Dodgers and Reds in the playoffs, until 1979 when the We Are Family Pirates won it in 7 games against the O’s with Willie hitting the game winning HR). So as you could imagine, I would have to root against the team that beat the Bucs; so I’d root for the Red Sox and the Yankees in those World Series games of the 1970’s. I was a huge Luis Tiante fan. Loved the way he pitched. I’m surprised we don’t hear much about him down here. He was one of the last old school Cuban players.
Still, things are not the same today. It was hard explaining to my son why Mike Lowell is now on the Red Sox. Except now my son likes the Red Sox too because of Lowell He is following the Tigers cause Willis and Cabrera are on the team. . In my day, it was more team loyalty; now I guess it’s player loyalty. There’s still no substitute for the summer pastime. Although I do miss the old Sunday double-headers. Back in the mid 1980’s while in NY one summer, for less than $10 a ticket, a group of us got a row of tickets at Shea to see the Mets play. Rode the train to the park in Queens and spent an entire day there drinking beer and watching baseball.
Nothing will ever match being at Game 7 in 1997 though. I was in Boston and had season tickets but never expected the Fish to make it to the series. My partner in the tix got games 1 and 2 and I got games 6 and 7. My inlaws got to go to game 6 which I watched in a Boston pub. When the Fish lost that game, I called Delta to get an earlier flight out to see Game 7. That was to this day the most thrilling sports moment for me. Even more exciting than the Fins winning Superbowl 7 and 8. That’s baseball.
But so much has changed. As kids, we used to play baseball in the street. Sometimes, one-on-one ball. That was fun. You had invisible players on the bases (usually a mailbox, a rock, etc.). The batter would self pitch and you being the only fielder had to put him out.
Too dangerous to play that now-a-days. Heck, we played without any supervision and we were 7 year olds. Kids today have no time to play for fun. Everything’s an organized league now; and that’s if you have time to play. The no child left behind nonsense (more government overkill) has the kids today being bombarded with so much homework, that they have no time to play. You pick one sport and that’s it. No time for more.
Heck, when I was 9, I’d get home from school, watch the 3 Stooges and Bugs Bunny cartoons for a few hours, then play for a few hours with the neighborhood kids. Finally, I’d do about an hour of homework and we’d do fine. We turned out ok. Now there’s so much overkill with the homework and the stupid FCAT, there’s no time for social interaction anymore. No time to have fun and be a kid. But there’s always baseball.
See you out at the ballpark infidels.
Posted by Cigar Mike at May 12, 2008 10:32 AM |
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Comments
Mike,
Beautiful picture. I agree watching baseball with ones dad can form some powerful memories. I remember going to Candlestick Park (the coldest damn place on earth in the summer) and watching Willie Mays, Juan Marichal, and Don Drysdale duke it out. My father died in an accident when I was 13 so those memories are all the more special.
Posted by: Azygos ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.babalublog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 12, 2008 08:05 PM
Thanks for the great memories. I'm in the process of establishing them for my son now, never too young for baseball( 9 mos old) My old time Cuban favorites: Tony Perez, Reds, NL and for the AL Bert Camapaneris from the A's.
Posted by: Eloy M at May 13, 2008 02:01 PM
Campy Camapaneris. Now theres a blast from the past. Saw him play many times in Oakland but was more of a Giants fan.
Posted by: Azygos at May 13, 2008 06:52 PM
I rooted for the Bucs after they beat my then-favorite Reds in '79. At first because I was sick of the whole Baltimore-and-Earl-Weaver-Is-God thing that year (how many games did they win?) but I got to know the Pirate team and came to love Stargell and Parker and Candelaria and the gang.
The following season they fell flat on their faces, my introduction to how athletes get complacent. We Are Family became We Are Broken Home.
But I'll never ever forget that throw by Parker in the Allstar game that year. The greatest outfield throw I've ever seen, and by far. If memory serves, he got MVP on that throw.
Posted by: Zhangliqun at May 13, 2008 08:29 PM
David, now that you mention the Candy Man, who can forget his rookie start in the NL Champtionship when he struck out 14 Reds, but tired out. Man that game hurt.
The Bucs had great teams in the early 1990's under Leyland, but Bonds would choke in the playoffs and who can forget that game against the Braves...a heartbreaker.
Posted by: Cigar Mike Pancier at May 13, 2008 09:28 PM
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