Appreciating Baseball In Our Lives

by Frank Campagnola on Jun 27, 2011 11:00 AM EDT in Miscellaneous

Mood Music - Nothing Suits Me Like a Suit (From How I Met Your Mother's 100th episode.) (Note from Barndon- This is legen....wait for it....dary! Back to Frankie)

This is my 100th post for Pinstripe Alley, so I wanted to do something in a sort of celebration. I love baseball, I've played it for a long time, and now I write for an awesome website with an awesome community for my favorite baseball team.

Growing up, I wanted to be a sports journalist. I wanted to be up in the press box, interview players, and get paid to do something that I loved. I'd never miss a game. However, teaching got my attention and it is what I really want to do now, but I'd still love to do some journalism on the side.

Looking back, I understand why I wanted to be a journalist. Baseball was the most important thing in my life, and I knew I wasn't good enough to play at a professional level. I wanted to find a way to stay involved with the game, and journalism seemed like a good option.

Why would I ever want to leave this game? It is our nation's pastime. It has been passed down to the men in my family from generation to generation. We love it.

We've seen World Series victories, a dynasty, The Flip, Aaron Boone, Alex Rodriguez become the youngest player to hit 600 home runs, and soon, my childhood idol, Derek Jeter, will become the first Yankee to collect 3,000 hits. Its legendary.

Baseball gets us through the day. It's what we look forward to when we wake up in the morning. It's what we rally behind when we're dealing with difficult times.

So here's to the game that I love and the team that I love. Maybe nothing suits Barney Stinson like a suit, but nothing suits me like Yankees baseball.

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Barndon stamp of approval!

Unless you're a pitcher or Gustavo Molina, kindly SWING THE BAT and ignore the Binder's bunt signal.

Here's how to post pictures in threads

by Andrew GM on Jun 27, 2011 11:12 AM EDT reply actions

Teaching?

Noble, but man it’s something I could not do. I just remember what I was like in high school, and I’d never want to teach me, and I was one of the better students.

"WHO WOULD LEAD?! THE CLOWN?!"
"FUCK INTERLEAGUE" -I'mGivingYouARaise

by I'mGivingYouARaise on Jun 27, 2011 12:27 PM EDT reply actions

a very nice post

As a young kid I lived and breathed baseball, and bugged my dad to play every day when he got home from work, but by the time I hit HS and started playing football, I paid less and less attention to it. I didn’t really get interested again until I moved to NY and got to see the end of the Yankee doldrums and the Worst Team Money Could Buy. My grandmother got more interested in baseball around the same time and lived in the Mariners’ TV region so we stayed connected over long distances about that.

I moved back out here in time to see the local entries in the Steroids Sideshow era, and really never looked back. Like many others I know, baseball filled in a lot of time waiting around dealing with family illnesses and deaths, and as my nephew played through little league my wife even got drawn in by baseball’s sneaky appeal and is a far more rabid fan than I am. It’s really been a fantastic gift throughout my life and across generations in my family.

May 29, 2010: Steven Revetria becomes Giants General Manager. The rest is history.

"118 elements, and still no stanfurdium"- carp, paraphrased

Bandwagons are fun- that's why people get on them in the first place.

by natteringnabob on Jun 27, 2011 12:33 PM EDT reply actions

Well written--nicely done!

Just once I'd like someone to call me "Sir," without adding, "You're making a scene."

by YankeeCarp on Jun 27, 2011 1:31 PM EDT reply actions

My favorite moment was Jeter diving into the stands (as scared as I was).

My dad and I were watching with my best friend and his dad (both of whom are Sox fans). It felt really good.

by frilly on Jun 27, 2011 1:42 PM EDT reply actions

As mentioned several times

I’ve seen everything from the M&M boys era, through the decline of the CBS years, to the Bronx Zoo years (my favorite Championship remains 1978), through the 80’s and early 90’s when it seemed the Yankees finished second every year while some team or another had their Year of the Century, to the present. I have the generational aspect of Father and Grandfather telling me about Babe, Gehrig, DiMaggio et al. Baseball is the fabric holding generations of my family together.

"I don't want one of those guys who'll drive in two but let in three every game." Casey Stengel

by tnredneckyankeesfan on Jun 27, 2011 2:50 PM EDT reply actions

I started watching and understanding baseball

Back in 1972 when I was 5 years old. I remember my older brother telling me all about his favorite player, Mickey Mantle.I remember my first trip to Yankee Stadium 1.0 in 1973. I watched as Gabe Paul helped build a team by bringing in talent through trades, then the dawn of free agency changed the business, but I never rooted harder for any Yankee than I did for Bobby Murcer and Thurman Munson. I jumped around like a crazy person when Chamblis ended the 1976 ALCS and I moped for weeks when the Reds cleaned the Yankees clock in the WS. The Reggie show in the 1977 was something to behold, but they never get past the Royals w/o the 5 2/3 of relief pitching in Game 5 of the LCS by Sparky Lyle. I was at a Yanks vs. Red Sox game in 1978 that got suspended late at night due to American League rules.It is the only Yankee game I ever left w/o seeing the final out in person with my own eyes. I remember the great defense at third by Nettles in game 3 of the WS that year, and a dude named Jim Beattie pitching the game of his life against the Dodgers. I mourned the loss of Thurman. The empty catcher’s box and the ovation that would not end while Louis Tiant stood on the mound and cried that Friday night was beyond description. Murcer’s 5 rbi’s in a 5-4 win against the Orioles on Monday night baseball after the team came back from the funeral in Canton earlier in the day may be the greatest single game performance in Yankee history. These were the moments I shared with my brother, who left the earth himself 3 years after Munson did. To call these moments priceless is insufficiently descriptive; it would be like calling the Empire State Building “tall”.

by Iggy Poptart on Jun 27, 2011 11:39 PM EDT reply actions