What player most reminds you of your childhood

[Fnazxc0114]

I have two players. The first is steve beuchelle. the first rangers game i ever went to i remembered asking my day why everyone was booing him. Come to find out it was how they cheered for him. The second player would be ruben sierra. This is primarily due to i think he got robbed in 89 in the mvp. Well i dont really think he got robbed but it is my first memory of actually caring about baseball stats and such

[CampWest]

I'm going baseball on this answer.

Let's see... I grew up in KC. Was 6 in 1980 (AL Champs, think .390 batting average), and thereby 11 in 1985 (Royals WS)... Any guesses?

Yeah obviously George Brett is first and foremost. How could you not love him? The intensity, the passion, the competitiveness... and all that with his skill and talent. George Brett never jogged to first on a routine ground ball.

The rest all blend together closely behind. Frank White's consistent bat and gold glove defense. The under-appreciated hitting and awe inspiring speed of Willie Wilson (the great conundrum of my childhood - Wilson at first, second base empty, Brett hitting. Do you miss Wilson's masterful lead, jump and easy steal of second or did you miss watching Brett hitting? Answer was normally easy. Brett was taking a couple pitches to let Wilson get into scoring position, so watch Willie.). The kookiness of Cone and Saberhagen. A few years later it was the spectacle of Bo Jackson. Nolan Ryan we saw nearly every time he came to KC.

For a sleeper - Jim Eisenreich. I still recall sitting right behind the Royals dugout when late in the game Eisenreich blasted a liner to right center, the ball never got more than 15 feet off the ground, was out of the park in the blink of an eye as it smashed into the facade of the signage in the fountains. I believe to this day the ball was still climbing when it hit the fence. I don't know if I've ever seen another ball hit that hard, including McGwire batting practice. The ball was out of the stadium before anyone could react. Curtain call, crowd going nuts, WOW! what a moment.

They say we are a product of our times... being in KC growing up in the hey-day of the Royals, there is no way I could not answer that Brett most reminds me of my childhood. And while I never had his skill, I did absorb that relentless fight and competitiveness.

Any time I see Brett highlights, I feel like a little kid.

[Fnazxc0114]

do you have any sundberg memories. hes the VP for the rangers and is really fan friendly

[CampWest]

do you have any sundberg memories. hes the VP for the rangers and is really fan friendly

Oh yeah of course... That whole stretch from late 70s to late 80s was a great time for baseball in KC. They had some great teams and a lot of great players. Jim was always fun to watch and clutch when the opportunity arose. I seem to remember more of John Wathan at catcher, but Sundberg's performance in 1985 was very memorable. Jim was only with the Royals for 85 & 86, so that brief stint is probably why he's not a bigger part of my memory. I think all Royals fans who remember the 85 World Series love Jim Sundberg, seems like he always gets a really warm reception when he is in town.

[kingjammy24]

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/3324/reggie.jpg

rudy.

[33bird]

Pete Rose and Johnny Bench. The Big Red Machine and the Moustache Gang. The hated Dodgers of Garvey and Cey. The hated Yanks of Reggie. The 70s were great!

[nomo121]

Mine will is Cecil Fielder and Mickey Tettleton. Being from detroit and then living in Texas, they were my favorite. I was the bigger kid, so Cecil was my hero. As many kids do, i held a bat kind of like tettleton. Over the years, I moved a lil away from that.

[Lokee]

I grew up in Canada so natually it was Toronto.

Manny Lee
Dave Stieb
Jorge I mean George Bell

Also like Rudy Canseco, Thomas Griffey ect..

[emann]

1. Wade Boggs
2. Just about any rookies from the '85 - '87 era baseball cards sets (Clemens, Puckett, McGwire, Canseco)
3. Pete Rose

[bigtruck260]

Dale Murphy was everything to me as a little kid. He had power, speed and was just a great guy. I grew up in Lexington Park, MD before coming to St. Louis - and I watched all of the Braves games on WTBS in the earlier days of cable TV.

Honorable Mention:

Nolan Ryan
Terry Pendleton
Milt Thompson
Willie McGee
Rickey Henderson

[skyking26]

Dave Kingman

[corsairs22]

The Great Roberto.

[metsbats]

Any member of the 1973 Mets.

[Kid4hof03]

Magic Johnson, I think I was about 16 when I finally realized it was going to be impossible to play "big" point guard at 5ft. 8.

Baseball it is Reggie and Mattingly. All I wanted for Christmas when I was 8 years old was a black wooden bat so I could be like Reggie. A few years after that I worked tirelessly at trying to copy Mattingly's batting stance.

I probably need to throw Pete Rose into the mix, any kid that ever slid head first was trying to be Pete.

Abe

[CampWest]

Johnny Bench would be another one for me too... but not so much for his baseball playing

http://www.motheringhut.com/images/art_bunch4.jpg

The Baseball Bunch was part of my every Saturday morning routine.


Pete Rose and Johnny Bench. The Big Red Machine and the Moustache Gang. The hated Dodgers of Garvey and Cey. The hated Yanks of Reggie. The 70s were great!

[CampWest]

Great thread... Got me thinkin, which got me to lookin at pictures... These are the baseball memories ingrained in my mind...
Tenacity, passion, respect for the game, determination...

http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xc/51884128.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF878921F7C3FC3F69D929FDB0CEA53E3C143EEE 166D0E346228F77A26F51AB9C48217FD

http://cache3.asset-cache.net/xc/88396818.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF878921CC759DF4EBAC47D029C09B95DCACA62A C2A2081B73182B0FCB6926DA44B5FDDA



http://cache2.asset-cache.net/xc/51925681.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF878921F7C3FC3F69D929FD7EEE7B080EA1FC53 F122DFEE68C5935B6F08CBF6D1522EFB


http://cache4.asset-cache.net/xc/51550990.jpg?v=1&c=NewsMaker&k=2&d=77BFBA49EF878921F7C3FC3F69D929FD2DE50869809BBC99 47004ACC9FC236435D912801DE17095F

[CampWest]

one more

http://weblogs.wpix.com/sports/thehuddle/ventura.jpg

[nationals2k9]

Ryne Sandberg

[BoneRubbedBat]

Nolan Ryan
Darryl Strawberry
Rickey Henderson

[whirl]

I'll show my age. Mickey Mantle.

[metsbats]

I'll show my age. Mickey Mantle.

Whirl,

You were so fortunate to have gotten to see The Mick play in person.

[Mark17]

Dick McAuliffe.

I've lived almost my entire life in Minnesota and am a big Twins fan, but the first team I was fascinated with was the 1968 Tigers.

When I was 13 years old, in Pony League, I was basically hitless
halfway through the season. So one day I figured, why not try something
radical. I went into an exaggerated Dick McAuliffe stance (right-handed
though) where I was facing the pitcher and holding the bat with by left
elbow under my chin. Last thing I heard was the best kid on our team
saying "Oh, what's he doing NOW?" A second later I'd hit my first home
run. A couple games later I hit another.

And Mickey Lolich, I could imitate his windup (righthanded though) perfectly, the way he'd work from the stretch, bringing his hands halfway down, pausing, then letting them bounce on his gut... I really love that team. I have game-used bats of McAuliffe, Cash, Horton, Price, and am always on the lookout for more.

[2000mvpfan]

Mattingly by far was the greatest influence of my childhood years..like Abe said,I can remember countless days trying to get his batting stance down-although from the right side!
But as far as players and teams that rattle around your head from when you were small..man,...Munson,Reggie,4chmidt,the '79 "We are Family" Pirates,'80 Phils and Royals,Astros in rainbows,and pale blue road uni's..
The late 70's-early 80's were the greatest in MLB..

Joe

[joelsabi]

i remember practicing hours upon hours on backhanded grounders (ala dave concepcion), side arm pitching (ala kent tekulve , bad idea for the arm strength) and switch hitting (just because I wanted to imitate Rod Carews batting stance even though I was a righty). do they still make whiffle balls?

[mariner_gamers]

Bruce Bochte.......Hello?......Anyone? Yup we had some real rough decades right after Mariners baseball began.......... Wait, things are better now right!?:D

[frikativ54]

Bagwell (of course)
Randy Johnson
Griffey, Jr.
Mark McGwire
Biggio
Robbie Alomar
Piazza

These are just off the top of my head...

[nomo121]

I'll show my age. Mickey Mantle.


Well at least you didn't say Cy Young or Walter Johnson or someone. :)

[mwbosoxfan]

Pudge Fisk. Everytime I see the replay of Game 6 12th inning HR in the '75 WS, it takes me back to the very place I was sitting 34 years ago. Seems like yesterday!

[harpt]

The Brewers in Powder blue. Even the photos make me feel like i am 9 or 10 years old.

[otismalibu]

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d133/bergmanrocks/003.jpg

[JasonBanz]

2 players remind me of my childhood! Both of them were my heroes growing up. I was lucky to see them in the same venue in 1997. The Dolphins were playing the Ravens. They had the Orioles team there to celebrate their Division championship! It was awesome!

26889
26890

[G1X]

PISTOL PETE MARAVICH
I was an impressionable 8th grader when my parents took me to Tuscaloosa on February 17, 1968 to see the Pistol take on the University of Alabama. I had been to sporting events before then, and been to many more since then, but I've yet to see anything that compares. The mere mention of his name brings back many fond memories of my youth.

Baseball: Too many to name, but will list Bobby Richardson, Mickey Mantle, and Bert Campaneris to name a few.

Football: Anyone who played for Auburn or Alabama in the 1960s with Joe Namath, Tucker Frederickson, Snake Stabler, and Dennis Homan being at the top of the list.

Mark Hayne
Gridiron Exchange
gixc@verizon.net

Always looking for Atlanta Falcons and WFL jerseys, and Willie McGee and Darren Lewis equipment.

[kingjammy24]

i always thought that, for many, this hobby was a way of recapturing tangible pieces of one's youth; the actual uniforms that you watched on the field as kid during some of the best parts of your life. they're like little time machines.

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/3324/reggie.jpg

rudy.

[skyking26]

i always thought that, for many, this hobby was a way of recapturing tangible pieces of one's youth; the actual uniforms that you watched on the field as kid during some of the best parts of your life. they're like little time machines.

http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/3324/reggie.jpg

rudy.
Very true Rudy. Agreed 100%. When you are a kid, you wanna be an adult. I'm a 46 year old adult looking back on times that were simpler. I followed guys like Kingman, etc. As an adult I can honestly say that the trend continues. When my son was born I was a Mac guy... Owning objects from the likes of Mac, Thome, Dunn, all the power guys I've followed and talked to my son and daughter about...

That's what it is all about. I just had a friend give me a nice price on a bat because he knew I wanted it and we have a friendship. Likewise, I often sell items at no profit and/or do payment plans with buddies just because that's what it is all about. The remembrance, the friendships... It's all good.

BTW, if you ever make it over the border at Sarnia to MI, we gotta get together.

RK

[island_style]

Dodgers Steve Garvey.

Kind Regards,

Rsamiano@aol.com

[ChrisWinsalways]

Dale Murphy........Wow he was everything growing up in the South during the 80's.Some of the values he represented made for a great Childhood Idol.

[geoff]

Cal Ripken JR-Ken Griffey JR-Ryan Sandberg.

Ripken because I grew up Watching Him with my Father as Orioles Fans And going to Orioles Games with Him.

Ken Griffey JR because he was my Favorite Player when I was a Kid.I had his Mariners Posters all over my Room plus his 1989 Upper Deck Rookie Card was my Favorite Card.

Ryan Sandberg because when I played Baseball when I was a Kid I played Second Base And I Wished I was him.I even watched The way he Played Second Base because thats what I played.

Thanks
Geoff

[suicide_squeeze]

Being a HUGE baseball fan, it's funny but the guys I remember my childhood by mostly (there were two of them) were football players.

I absolutely loved Roman Gabriel, the "big bad Indian", and Deacon Jones.

Later on, it was Steve Garvey, Ron Cey, Wilt Chamberlain, Magic Johnson....


........and a special mention to Mike Marshall, the old first baseman for the Dodgers after Garvey split.

Why? Because the SOB dated Belinda Carlisle of the Go-Go's for a short while, and that made him my idol!!:cool:

[Joeycola]

One player is hard to name... Bo Jackson, Willie McGee, Vince Coleman, Doc, and Strawberry. I hope to one day own gamers from these guys!

[Fraudfinder!!]

As a very young boy (6 and 7) Rocky Colavito comes to mind. A little later after moving from Cleveland to New England, it would be Yaz or any Boston Red Sox.
http://mlb.mlb.com/images/2002/12/12/clQHs8iV.jpghttp://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb208/phoennyx9/yaz.jpg

[MUSEOVEN]

Andres Galarraga.-