My Most Memorable MLB Moments

Moments I remember and "savor" or "feel a chill" (Not neccessarily in order)

• Rose's 4192nd hit
• Reds 1990 Game 2 World series victory in the bottomof the 10th....Joe Oliver bounced a fair ball past third and scored the winning run to put the Reds up 2 game to none on the mighty A's ,  when most people expected an A's sweep (as they had done the previous year against the Giants).  I can still hear Jack Buck's call ("Oliver hits it........FAIR! Cincinnati Leads Two games to none!").  I went downtown and stood in line to buy tickets for what I thought would be a probable game 6 back in Cinncinnati,  and ended up splitting the cost of two scalped tickets ($50 each over face value,  which was $90 apiece.  We both ended up eating $50 when the Reds took the two games in Oakland to sweep the Series.  I guess the sweep was worth $50 to me.  (My wife didn't like it too much , though).
• Bench's 9th inning game tying homerun in the 5th and deciding game of the 1972 NLCS (The guy who watched it sail over his head was playing what would be his final inning of major league baseball,  Roberto Clemente.  He would die that winter in a plane crash as he traveled with an aid mission taking helpful things to someplace I don't remember.  He finished with 3000 hits on the nose) Bench's homerun was called by Al Michaels,  then a Reds radio broadcaster.  That inning and game ended with George Foster scoring the winning run on a wild pitch by Pittsburgh's Bob Moose.
• Mark McGuire's 62nd homerun,  and some of the celebration
• Tony Perez (my favorite player) winning the 1967 all star game in Anaheim (get this,  in the 15th inning,  which apparently can't happen anymore,  since we can't have the players playing that long......hint: what happened at this year's All-star game?)
• The Reds winning game 7 of the 75 series (the day after that often quoted memorable moment: Fisk's homerun to send it to a 7th game.  Whenever I see that clip,  and hear the call: "Long drive.....if it stays fair.......Homerun!"   I think to myself,  "That sent it to the 7th game,  where the Reds ended the Boston faithful dream of going on and winning the Series after the heroics of the night before;   another big hit of game 6 was Bernie Carbo's 3 run homer in the 8th to tie it at 6.
• Aaron's 715th.   He had taken the Reds' Jack Billingham deep on opening day in the 1st inning,  and I remember Marty Brennaman saying "unbelievable" or "amazing" as Aaron sent the ball over the left filed fence.  The Braves held Aaron out until they returned to Atlanta.  I think he took the Al Downing pitch out in his first game back at Atlanta. 
• The Mets celebrating their game 5 (4 -1) series win in 1969.  It was fun seeing them go from last to first,  but I felt sorry for Ernie Banks missing out on the World Series again (the Cubs had a big lead for most of the year,  before the Mets overtook them and won the East going away......I was 13 that year)
• My first game as a spectator at Crosley Field  in 1967.  (Reds - Pirates) Art Shamsky homered.  Don Clendenon homered for the Pirates.   Everytime someone hit it into the outfield,  they hit it so high,  I thought everyone of them was leaving the ballpark.
• My first walk off live viewing of a walk off ,  "homerun we win- out we lose" type homerun, with my 6 year old son Brian,  at Cincinnati vs the Cubs.  Bret Boone did it off of Randy Meyers, 1995.  It was electric. 
• Being at the 1970 World Series in Cincinnati (scalper's prices,  which wasn't a whole lot more than what tickets go for today at face value ---- Dad paid $60 bucks apiece for 2,  then like 50 apiece for 4 for Game 2)
• The 1972 Series (we had 4 for all 4 games--- face value---- Dad had gotten them way in advance.  That made the Bench homerun to tie and lead to the Reds win in game 5 all the more sweet....cuz we were going to that Series.   Reds lost 3 of the 4,  all by one run.  Came close to a really great moment when, in game 7,  Rose lined a 2 out gapper in the bottom of the ninth and a man on first,  but it was flagged down in right center by a running catch.

© Copyright 2003 Dale Lature. Last update: 9/23/2003; 3:36:33 PM.