How Can You Not Be Romantic About Baseball?
That is the ticket to the very first Blue Jays game I attended with my Dad. Wednesday, May 23, 2001. It was given to me this Christmas and was a real highlight for me, for all that it made me realize. Most of all, was that this was the game that cemented my love of baseball, and more importantly, of the Blue Jays. Almost 20,000 people attended that game which, at the time, was easily the biggest crowd I’d ever been a part of. I was 15 at the time and already really enjoyed baseball. I was a big fan of the Blue Jays and watched them on TV and listened to their games on the radio but seeing a game in person is a different experience all together. To this very day, I still love watching games on TV. I learn interesting things from the announcers, I enjoy all the stats and trivia they flash on the screen, and I love that I can leave my seat and not have to wait for a break in play to get it back. But there isn’t anything better than the atmosphere of really being there. That’s what that first game with my Dad showed me. I still remember the atmosphere over 10 years later. In fact, I remember one chant in particular.
David Wells was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 2nd round of the 1982 draft, and then debuted for them five years late on June 30th, 1987, and went on to play in parts of 21 seasons in the majors including two stints with the Blue Jays from 87-93 and again from 99-2000. The Blue Jays traded Roger Clemens to the Yankees for David Wells on February 18, 1999. At the time, Roger Clemens was my favorite player. So I was a little dismayed, but being a kid, I got over it pretty quickly, and David Wells forged two fairly successful seasons with the Jays, including what was likely the best season of his career in 2000 when he went 20-8 with a 4.11 ERA. But then it all turned around, as on January 14, 2001, the Blue Jays traded him to the White Sox in a deal that quickly became mired in controversy.
The total package was David Wells and Mike DeWitt for Kevin Beirne, Brian Simmons, and a prospect named Mike Williams, and the centerpiece, a starting pitcher named Mike Sirotka. Gord Ash, the GM for the Jays at the time, hadn’t made the deal contingent upon the passing a physical (practically mandatory today) and the result was that Toronto acquired a starting pitcher who was already injured, and would never play in the majors again. The mistake ultimately cost Gord Ash his job and the Blue Jays basically gave up David Wells, the all-star anchor of their rotation - for nothing, and Blue Jays fans knew it. So on Wednesday, May 23rd, 2001, the Blue Jays fans finally got their chance to get some of that disappointment out of their system, and it all fell on David Wells.
Some nicknames can go two ways. David Wells was nicknamed Boomer, and during his time in Toronto, the Blue Jays fans embraced it, and used it as a rally cry during his starts. However, once he joined the White Sox rotation for nothing, it quickly turned the other way around. “BOOMER!” became “BOOOOOOOOO-MER!” with a great deal of emphasis on the Boo. There may have only been 20,000 people at that game, but it felt like the place was sold out when they were jeering Wells. It may have been the sound of those 20,000 jeering fans, taunting David Wells, raining down “BOOO-MER” chants that did it, but after that day, I was all baseball, all the time. Hockey took a backseat, and as any Canadian kid can you tell, that’s a big deal. It was all baseball, and all because of a game that my Dad and I enjoyed together. The Blue Jays won that game 9-6 and David Wells took the loss. He pitched 5.1 innings and allowed 8 runs (7 earned) while giving up 13 hits.
Strangely enough, those tickets were gifts from my Dad’s brother. He got them from the company he works for, because they had season tickets to the Jays. I believe that he and my brother may have also come along, but all I remember is my Dad and I. Funny enough, as fate would have it, in late 2008 I joined the very same company, and have access to those very same seats, for any game I wish. Like a lot of things, I owe my love of baseball to my Dad. So if you are a fan of baseball thanks to your Dad, let him know. If you enjoy these articles that I write, thank David Wells and my Dad, and let me know!
This article reminds me of my first game. My first game was opening day in Cincinnati 2003. This was special to me because it was the first game in the new stadium and was also with my dad. We had always talked about going to a Reds game for so long, and we finally found enough time between my games to go. With it being opening day in the new stadium tickets were pretty much impossible to get. My dad worked hard enough to get two tickets in the upper deck. I remember him saying to me, "we might be way up here but at least we are in the stadium". I will never forget that no matter what. The Reds got hammered by the Bucs but it was still an amazing experience for my dad and I. That day started a tradition for him and I, we have now been to every opening day in Great American Ball Park and plan to be there together again this year. That is why I will never forget my first game.
ReplyDeleteWow man, that is a great story. I've never been, but I've heard many times that Great American Ballpark is a fantastic ballpark! One day I'll get there!
ReplyDeleteI can't remember my first game because it was about 30 years ago. This article was great, well done Brandon
ReplyDeleteBrandon, your article brought the memories of that day in May 2001 rushing back to me like it was yesterday.The smell of the Popcorn, the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd are now fresh in my memory. I am so very proud of your writing where your passion for baseball in general and the Blues in particular really shines through. I am thrilled that the Christmas present of a simple ticket stub from your first game that I kept for you for 11 years could inspire such a heartfelt article and that a simple trip to a baseball game 11 years ago could inspire such a passion for the game in you that I have had since I was a kid. Maybe someday down the road you will be able to share the joy of your first trip to a Jays game with your son or daughter - it is a trip you;ll never forget - I know I have not forgotten mine keep up the with the great articles - Love always - Dad - Go Jays Go!!!
ReplyDeleteI don't remember my very first game, but I have vivid memories of going to Exhibition Stadium in the early to mid 1980's (a GREAT time to have been a Jays fan) with my dad (and sometimes my grandpa or with my mom and sisters). We'd sit in the cheap "seats" (benches) in left field under the overhang. Once a year a group of guys from my church (my dad was also there) went and we got to sit on the nicer benches down the first base line!
ReplyDeleteEvery memory of being at a game for the first 18+ years of my life my dad was there, too. And, like you, it was those chances to watch the Jays in person that really cemented by love of baseball and love of the Jays.