sox83cubs84
10-30-2010, 01:20 PM
Have you ever gone to a sporting event, having a gut feeling that something unusual (and positive) was going to happen to you at the game, no matter how pie-in-the-sky it may have seemed?
I've been blessed by God (and baseball) in this way twice.
The first time was 7/31/76...MLB was expected to have it's one billionth fan come through the turnstiles at a game that day. Since there was no way the actual billionth fan could be determined, each of the 12 home teams that day (including the Cubs) devised their own selection method of determining their own representative one billionth fan, with a plaque presentation on-field before the game, multiple prizes, and a part in a Hall of Fame exhibit as part of the experience.
I saw a small note about this in the Chicago Tribune, and mentioned my interest in going. My mother, ever the pessimist, assured me that I would never get the honor. "Too many people", she lamented.
I arrived at the park at about 9AM, and a security guard buddy filled me in on the selection method. The home plate gate would have all it's turnstiles opened, and the fan first in line at the selected turnstile would be the one declared representative one billionth fan.
As the large gate opened, 2 people ahead of me ran to the nearest turnstiles. I went further down the line, opting for a turnstile being attended by a cute brunette lookin' fine in the standard female usher uniform of the day (yellow top and blue miniskirt).
Long story short...selection was made, I was selected, and was given so many prizes that my parents had to drive down to Wrigley to take them all home. Plus, the short-term stint in a Hall of Fame display...long before any Wrigely Field ballhawk pals sniffed a similar appearance in Cooperstown.
The second time: 9/8/92. I was having a devil of a time getting a game home run that year (my second year of serious ballhawking), and a night game in Milwaukee beckoned. I had a gut feeling that I could grab my second-ever game HR one year to the day after I got my first (Andre Dawson #396 at Wrigley Field). Again, my wife (this time) was convinced it would never happen, and said just that, as I left to go to the nearby Amtrak station to take a train to Milwaukee.
BP was rained out, and the playing of the game itself was in question. I did have a warmup ball tossed to me by Milwaukee coach Ralph Rowe, but I was hoping for more...and got it!
There were maybe six people, including me, out in the right field bleachers of old County Stadium, as the game began...rain was still falling as the game started. I didn't have to wait long, though, as Brewer Dave Nilsson smacked a shot that cleared the wall in the old right field well (a ground level gap between the bleachers and the right field boxes).
One other guy and I dashed down the steps and looked for it, but didn't see it. A fan pointed out the location, and we both made a mad dash for it. The other fan had position, and briefly led the chase. However, said fan carried a lot of extra poundage on his short frame, and I was able to pass him by and snatch the Nilsson homer. The guy was a good sport about it, so I ended up giving him the ball Rowe tossed me, and he was happy as well.
Two ballpark trips, and two high-odds events that I envisioned happening came true. Anyone else here "defy the odds"? Share it with us if you have.
Dave Miedema
I've been blessed by God (and baseball) in this way twice.
The first time was 7/31/76...MLB was expected to have it's one billionth fan come through the turnstiles at a game that day. Since there was no way the actual billionth fan could be determined, each of the 12 home teams that day (including the Cubs) devised their own selection method of determining their own representative one billionth fan, with a plaque presentation on-field before the game, multiple prizes, and a part in a Hall of Fame exhibit as part of the experience.
I saw a small note about this in the Chicago Tribune, and mentioned my interest in going. My mother, ever the pessimist, assured me that I would never get the honor. "Too many people", she lamented.
I arrived at the park at about 9AM, and a security guard buddy filled me in on the selection method. The home plate gate would have all it's turnstiles opened, and the fan first in line at the selected turnstile would be the one declared representative one billionth fan.
As the large gate opened, 2 people ahead of me ran to the nearest turnstiles. I went further down the line, opting for a turnstile being attended by a cute brunette lookin' fine in the standard female usher uniform of the day (yellow top and blue miniskirt).
Long story short...selection was made, I was selected, and was given so many prizes that my parents had to drive down to Wrigley to take them all home. Plus, the short-term stint in a Hall of Fame display...long before any Wrigely Field ballhawk pals sniffed a similar appearance in Cooperstown.
The second time: 9/8/92. I was having a devil of a time getting a game home run that year (my second year of serious ballhawking), and a night game in Milwaukee beckoned. I had a gut feeling that I could grab my second-ever game HR one year to the day after I got my first (Andre Dawson #396 at Wrigley Field). Again, my wife (this time) was convinced it would never happen, and said just that, as I left to go to the nearby Amtrak station to take a train to Milwaukee.
BP was rained out, and the playing of the game itself was in question. I did have a warmup ball tossed to me by Milwaukee coach Ralph Rowe, but I was hoping for more...and got it!
There were maybe six people, including me, out in the right field bleachers of old County Stadium, as the game began...rain was still falling as the game started. I didn't have to wait long, though, as Brewer Dave Nilsson smacked a shot that cleared the wall in the old right field well (a ground level gap between the bleachers and the right field boxes).
One other guy and I dashed down the steps and looked for it, but didn't see it. A fan pointed out the location, and we both made a mad dash for it. The other fan had position, and briefly led the chase. However, said fan carried a lot of extra poundage on his short frame, and I was able to pass him by and snatch the Nilsson homer. The guy was a good sport about it, so I ended up giving him the ball Rowe tossed me, and he was happy as well.
Two ballpark trips, and two high-odds events that I envisioned happening came true. Anyone else here "defy the odds"? Share it with us if you have.
Dave Miedema