A baseball era comes to a close

by Blaidd Drwg

An era in baseball is coming to a close. It is not something that you will hear people talking about for years to come, but it is more of an era that is defined by events in your lifetime. For me, 1988 really marked the beginning of what I will call the “Baseball Junkie Era”  – I was always a fan, I had my heart crushed in 1986 by the Red Sox (it was not helped by living in NJ in a house with 3 Mets fans) and I had been to my fair share of games at Yankee and Shea Stadiums and the Vet in Philly. Why was ’88 so special? It was a coming together of several factors. It was the first time I played fantasy baseball. It was a head to head league and I managed to win a few dollars. It was my first trip to Fenway Park. It was a lousy, wet weekend in July when we ventured up I-95 to Boston to see the Sox play the Sox. It was in the middle of the “Morgan’s Miracle” streak. It was also when I realized that there was more to baseball stats for hitters than BA, HR and RBI, thanks to Larry Parrish (that is a story for another post).

Why is this all important? Between 1988 and about 1992, a series of players broke into the big leagues, who, in one way or another, impacted the way that I look at the game and really made me the baseball junkie I am today. Everyone will recognize their names – Griffey, Bagwell, Biggio, Frank Thomas, Barry Bonds, Piazza, Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz, Thome, Palmeiro, Randy Johnson – the list goes on (and includes the extremely underrated Kevin Appier, Duane Ward and Jeff Montgomery). It was when I transitioned from cheering for teams (I still love the Cubs and Red Sox – just not the way I used to) to following players. Oh, sure, I could still recite the lineup for the ’84 Cubs in my sleep and still consider guys like Durham, Davis, Trout and Moreland some of my favorite all time players, but the guys I listed truly made the game special to watch. I could spend pages writing about my memories of seeing those guys play (As I write this, I am thinking which was more memorable – seeing Bagwell launch a HR off the Coke Bottles at Fenway and getting a standing O as he rounded the bases, or seeing Rafael Palmeiro rap a double down the left field line at Safeco for his 3,000^th career hit), but I am not going to do that. Through these players, I expanded my knowledge and understanding of the game, and it actually made it more enjoyable to watch.

So why the trip down memory lane? I woke up this morning, launched my browser to ESPN and saw this headline: Big Hurt decides to retire after 19 seasons. That, coupled with Glavine hanging it up made me realize, there aren’t many guys left from that era. Griffey is still around (but really looks like he should hang them up) and Thome is still hanging on, but the rest, well they are off to the links to enjoy the rest of their lives. Enjoy your retirement, Frank, and thanks for the Fantasy Baseball titles you helped me win in ’93, ’94 and ’95. We will see you in Cooperstown in 2014.

I am still as big a baseball fan as ever, maybe even more these days, I just don’t have the attachment to the players that I used to. Outside of Adam Dunn and Jack Cust (the 3 True Outcome Crew), Tug Hulett (don’t ask), Jason Kendall and Brian Giles (who are both looking like they should hang ‘em up), I just don’t really follow any individual player that closely. I really don’t know why. With the internet and the MLB package on cable, I can watch any game and find out any information I want. I would think that I would have a list of players that I would follow, but I don’t. I finally understand why people who I have talked to who grew up watching the game in the ‘40’s and ’50s told me the game was just not the same for them to watch later in life. You form attachments, you see them grow and develop and unfortunately, they end at some point. As much as you try to form new ones, they never are the same.

I am looking forward to the start of the season. It could be an interesting one for the M’s, I get to see the Cubbies come to town this summer, the Sox and Yankees will once again slug it out in the AL East and countless other memories will be created as the year progresses. I think when the Twins come to town and Jim Thome steps up to the plate, a single person a Safeco is going to give him a standing ovation with a tear in his eye, just to say “Thanks for the memories, Jim.”