Ours Go to 11: Volume 37, Notable Games Attended -- Regular Season

Had things proceeded as scheduled, last night--June 13, 2020--I would have watched my beloved Chicago Cubs play a regular-season, Major League Baseball game against their Arch rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals.

Rather than at Wrigley Field or Busch Stadium, this game would've taken place at London Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London, England.

Hopefully it will be rescheduled for 2021, or as safe, and I will be able to plan a different European jaunt and attend.

But theoretically, it would be a once in a lifetime event, to see the Cubs play in Europe.

So for now, I will draw upon my memory banks--and perhaps even more so, ticket stubs--to list some of the most notable, memorable and/or cherished games I've attended across various sports.

It seems a bit unfair to loop together regular season and playoff/exhibition games, so here I'll focus only on the former, and will follow up with a subsequent post covering the latter.

But this is quite inexact. I've been fortunate to attend many games over the years, some at the gracious invite of friends, relatives, bosses, etc. How I attended, or with whom, isn't a criteria I'm much considering, but I remain extremely grateful to those who treated me, joined me, traveled with me, etc. 

I recall very few outcomes or specific happenings within games, and while I've been to games at 40 different major league baseball stadiums, vary rarely do the venues factor into the choices below. I was also a vendor at several Chicago games between 1985-89, which I'll include in some cases, but sparingly.

Perhaps inadvertently, I'm leaving out several Cubs vs. White Sox games I attended, and mostly won't include games I went to in order to see all-time greats--Cal Ripken Jr., Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Sanders, LeBron James, Allen Iverson, etc.--or to observe pre-game ceremonies or get promotional items.

And as I feel apt, I'll lump a few games together. 

The Most Memorable Regular Season Games I Was At

1. April 18, 2007: Chicago White Sox vs. Texas Rangers - Mark Buehrle No-Hitter
It was a freezing evening game at U.S. Cellular Field that I attended with three friends. I would've happily left at any point the Rangers got a hit, but they never did. Sox won 6-0.

See video within article

2. August 8 / 9, 1988: Chicago Cubs vs. Philadelphia Phillies / New York Mets - Lights at Wrigley
The first night game at Wrigley Field never officially happened, as after 91-year-old Harry Grossman flipped the switch on 8/8/88--I was there as a vendor--Mother Nature stalled the game in the middle of the 4th inning. Fortunately I was back the next night for the first official night game at Wrigley, against the Mets. Cubs won 6-4.

3. September 6, 1998: St. Louis Cardinals vs. Cincinnati Reds - Old Busch Stadium, St. Louis
Incidentally, Long Gone Summer, which chronicles Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's home run chase of 1998 premieres tonight on ESPN. I attended this late-season game in St. Louis as McGwire sat at 60 HR (Sosa was at 58). However I may feel now about both stars presumably juicing, the atmosphere was electric then. McGwire did not homer (nor did Sammy on the day), so nothing noteworthy happened in this game, it was just cool to be there. Over the next two nights, against the Cubs at Busch (I wasn't there) McGwire hit HR 61 and 62, tying and breaking Roger Maris' longstanding record. He finished the year with 70 HR; Sosa 66.

4. January 2 & 24, 2003: Chicago Bulls vs. Washington Wizards - United Center
I saw Michael Jordan play in person about 10 times across his career, mostly with the Bulls. Some of these games are noted below. But after he unretired to play a final two seasons with the Wizards, I had a ticket for a 2002 game at the UC in which he didn't play and also unwittingly bought a fake ticket for his final game at Madison Square Garden in New York in March 2003. But I did attend his first and last visits to the Jordan -- err, United -- Center in the 2002-03 season. He had a combined 21 points, but so what. I cheered loudly.

5. June 17 / 18, 2000: New York Yankees vs. Chicago White Sox, Old Yankee Stadium; Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees, Fenway Park
On a brief East Coast jaunt highlighted by seeing Bruce Springsteen at Madison Square Garden, the next afternoon I would see the White Sox clobber the Yankees 17-4 on my second ever visit to the original Yankee Stadium. I would then take a train to Boston, where my sister Allison lived, and the next night we went to a game at Fenway, my first at the venerable home of the Boston Red Sox ballpark. The Yankees won 22-1. I don't know if any other team has had a 34-run loss to win swing in 2 days.

6. September 8, 1985: Chicago Cubs vs. Cincinnati Reds, Wrigley Field - Pete Ties Ty in a Tie
Before he would disgrace himself for getting caught betting on baseball, Pete Rose became the Hit King by surpassing Ty Cobb's 4,191. On a Sunday in Chicago, late in my first season as a vendor, "Charlie Hustle" tied Ty--he'd surpass him Wednesday in Cincinnati--in a game that would officially end in a 5-5 tie. Per #2 above, Wrigley didn't yet have lights.

7. March 1, 2014: Chicago Blackhawks vs. Pittsburgh Penquins, Soldier Field
I went to a handful of Hawks games during their dynasty era, including a Stanley Cup Final game. But this outdoor "Stadium Series" game at Soldier Field was really cool, especially as it was freezing. And it was also my first chance to see the Penquins' superstar Sidney Crosby live in person. The Blackhawks won 5-1 in front of nearly 63,000 fans.

8. June 7, 2003: Chicago Cubs vs. New York Yankees - Wrigley Field
Roger Clemens aiming for career win #300 vs. Kerry Wood. The series marked the first Yankees visit to Wrigley since 1932. Cubs won 5-2 but game marred by a scary injury to the Cubs' Hee-Seop Choi. 

9. March 9, 1985: Chicago Bulls vs. Utah Jazz - Chicago Stadium
First time I saw Michael Jordan in person. He scored 28 but the Jazz won 111-105, led by Darrell Griffith's 40 points. Orlando Woolridge had 35 for the Bulls.

10. May 2, 2000: Chicago Cubs vs. Houston Astros - Wrigley Field
Kerry Wood's return to action after more than a year on the Disabled List. He went 6 innings for the win in a 11-1 Cubs victory, and also hit a 2-run homer.

11. November 26, 2011: Chelsea vs. Wolves, Stamford Bridge stadium, London
My friend Paolo was in London on business, staying in a corporate flat, so I visited him. Though I had seen some great international soccer stars play in Chicago, I'd never been to a game--of any kind--in another country. Paolo is a huge fan, of soccer and Chelsea, so we went to Stamford Bridge and got tickets from a "tout" (i.e. scalper). It was a fun experience; Chelsea won 3-0. I can't trace who scored goals, but notables on Chelsea's roster included Didier Drogba, Michael Essien, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Daniel Sturridge, Fernando Torres and Ashley Cole.

A few others

- September 5, 1983: White Sox v A's - First-place Sox won 11-1 enroute to playoffs. Went with my childhood (and still) pal Jordan; Floyd Bannister started.
- August 6, 1984: Cubs vs. Mets - First-place Cubs beat second-place Mets (with Dwight Gooden starting) 9-3; taken by summertime boss, sat 1st row behind Cubs dugout
- April 8, 1999: Blackhawks vs. Rangers - Wayne Gretzky's last visit to Chicago. The crowd and the Hawks gave him a great salute.
- April 14 (or 15), 1981: White Sox vs. Brewers - I remember my took me and a friend to a game right at the start of the Sox first season with Carlton Fisk (alongside Greg Luzinski). April 14 was opening day, but the 15th would've been a much easier ticket. I don't have the stub or much recollection, but do recall my dad being pickpocketed on the L.  
- February 15, 2000: Bulls vs. Lakers - Phil Jackson's first visit to the UC as Lakers coach on a title-bound team with Shaq and Kobe. Lakers won 88-76
- November 26, 1991: Bulls vs. Clippers, LA Sports Arena - Living in L.A. from 1990-92, I convinced a colleague to accompany me to see Michael, who scored 23 in a 116-79 Bulls win.
- December 9, 1995: Bulls vs. Bucks, Bradley Center, Milwaukee - My friend Mark and I went up to Milwaukee early in the Bulls' 72-win, 4th ring season. Adorned in black uniforms, the Bulls won 118-106; Michael had 45.
- Various dates, 1990-92, 1996: Cubs vs. Dodgers, Dodger Stadium - I don't recall any game in particular, but it was always fun to see the Cubs in L.A., when I lived there and on a return visit.
- March 30, 2014: Fluminense vs. Vasco de Gama, Maracana, Rio de Janeiro - The famed Maracana had been reconfigured down from a 200,000 capacity to 80,000 and wasn't even 1/4 full for this game, but it was still fun to attend.
- September 11 / 12, 2005: San Francisco Giants vs. San Diego Padres, SBC Park - As noted above, I've been to many baseball stadiums, and my favorite beyond Wrigley is the Giants' home on the Bay. And while I hated Barry Bonds, even in real time, the game on 9/12 marked his first of 2005 after 4 straight MVP seasons. So it was kinda cool.

Remembering a Day I Will Never Forget, 25 Years Later

What "I remember exactly where I was when I heard about ____________" moments resonate strongest with you?

I wasn't alive until nearly five years after JFK was assassinated on November 22, 1963, and with December 7, 2011 being the 70th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, that day will soon live in infamy well beyond a preponderance of people who can actively remember it.

With the MLK and RFK assassinations coming slightly before my birth (in October 1968), and the Moon Landing coming only 9 months after, I don't directly remember those events, but I think I slightly recall watching Nixon leave office on August 9, 1974. And I know that, while on family vacations in 1976 and 1977, I saw news reports about the deaths of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and Elvis Presley, respectively. I can't really recall if I heard about John Lennon via Howard Cosell's announcement during Monday Night Football or the next morning from Steve Dahl & Garry Meier (on Chicago radio), but I remember being quite stunned, even though I was much more familiar with Paul McCartney, who'd been far more active during my years of awareness.

I remember coming home from school on March 30, 1981 excited to watch that evening's NCAA Championship and the Academy Awards, and having my dad tell me that President Reagan had been shot. (The game was played, with Indiana beating North Carolina; the Oscars were postponed to the next night.)

I also won't forget Frank Sinatra's death coinciding with the last episode of Seinfeld (on 5/14/98), and know I found out about Michael Jackson initially through a post on Facebook shortly after others about Farrah Fawcett made the rounds (on 6/25/09). Like most, I have vivid sad memories of 9/11/01 and can still recall WSCR's Dan Bernstein first alerting me to an airplane having crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, while I was driving to work after having seen Bob Costas on the Today show discussing Michael Jordan's decision to play for the Washington Wizards. I also remember my boss at the time insisting we treat it as a normal workday, even as all the horrible events unfolded.

But as much as any non-personal event--and even most of those--I'll never forget the day 25 years ago today, January 28, 1986, when the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated shortly after liftoff, killing its seven crew members.

It wasn't just that it was a completely shocking tragedy--one that at age 17 I doubtfully ever even contemplated, at least not in a way so dissimilar from a "Ground Control to Major Tom" scenario--or that what happened was captured by television cameras for all to see. (I didn't witness the catastrophe as it happened, but repeatedly in its wake.)

No, what makes the Challenger tragedy so extraordinarily memorable was the timing of it. Especially for Chicagoans.

You see, just two days before, on Sunday, January 26, 1986, the Chicago Bears completed their greatest season in history by defeating the New England Patriots 46-10 in Super Bowl XX. I'm sure you can imagine the euphoria being shared through the halls of Niles North High School--where I was a senior--and everywhere in the region that Monday, and carrying through Tuesday. Keep in mind that up to that point, other than the basically irrelevant Chicago Sting soccer team, no Chicago sports team (professional or collegiate) had won a championship during my lifetime. And with the Bears going 15-1 during the regular season, being coached by Mike Ditka, led by Walter Payton, Jim McMahon, Richard Dent, Mike Singletary and many other stars, featuring William "The Refrigerator" Perry and boldly predicting their success through "The Super Bowl Shuffle," the '85 Bears were truly a phenomenon.

Even had the current Bears beaten the Packers last Sunday, advanced to Super Bowl XLV and won it, in my opinion it would have paled next to the '85 Bears for anyone old enough to recall the excitement they stirred around town and even across the country (and I still think theirs was the best defense ever).

So, Sunday, January 26, 1986, the Bears win the Super Bowl for Chicago's first major sports championship since the Bears won the NFL Championship in 1963 (about 5 weeks after the Kennedy assassination).

The city goes bonkers and celebrates into Monday, when a ticker tape parade is held along LaSalle Street, with a rally in Daley Plaza.

Jubilation was still abundant at Niles North in Skokie on Tuesday, January 28, 1986, when someone says in the hallway that "the Space Shuttle blew up." My initial reaction was to assume it was some kind of joke; disbelief is often the way we respond to horrific news. But the buzz soon became louder and I think it was in a classroom (so much for precise exactitude) that the grim truth was confirmed.

Talk about a downer.

I remember that it immediately felt wrong to feel so happy about the Bears. Seven people, including teacher Christa McAuliffe, lost their lives in such a stunning way. School wasn't canceled and thus life pretty quickly resumed normalcy, but as this article should attest, I'll never forget going from so high to so low in such succession, at least in terms of events that didn't involve a personal loss or direct consequence. The juxtaposition greatly exacerbated the shock of the tragedy, and the acuity of the memory.

For although I also remember the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster that killed its seven crew members, without looking it up just now, I couldn't have told you that it happened on February 1, 2003.

But January 28, 1986 is a day, and feeling, I will never, ever forget.