i helped to reverse the curse

back in 2004, i saw a game in fenway park for the first time. a few months later, the red sox won their first world series since 1918. coincidence? i am not so sure, although the bosox have won three more titles since then, and i haven't been back to fenway since '04.

i had visited boston several times before, but always in the offseason. so, when it was announced that the dodgers would visit fenway for the first time since the 1916 world series, i was all in to get my butt to beantown.  fenway was the 12th stadium i saw a major league baseball game in, and i have this 2002 fleer red sox checklist card

in my "stadiums i've seen a game in" mini-collection.

here are my ticket stubs from each game of the three game series:

jason varitek, kevin millar, and david ortiz are featured, with ortiz fittingly on the game #34 ticket.

i purposefully bought the tickets so as to get a variety of vantage points throughout the weekend. friday night we were on the third base side, saturday i was on the first base side (i was solo for that game as my siblings opted out), and sunday we were out in the center field bleachers.

the first game was a pitchers' duel between odalis perez and derek lowe for six and a half innings before david ortiz hit a home run leading off the bottom of the 7th to start the scoring. the dodgers tied the game in dramatic fashion in the top of the 9th thanks to an error by manny ramirez who muffed a pop up that should have ended the game. no worries for the red sox faithful, however, as in a preview of postseason heroics, ortiz ended the game with a walk-off base hit in the bottom of the ninth. also previewing the postseason, dave roberts stole second in the game (although he was still a dodger at the time).

the second game featured jeff weaver against tim wakefield, with neither pitcher doing all that well. the dodgers beat the red sox 14-5, and even though it wasn't a save situation, eric gagne came in to pitch which i appreciated. i had hoped to see him on the mound at some point during the weekend, and he didn't disappoint as he struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth. at some point during the game i moved down to a seat along the railing on the right field line. it was an interesting view looking down the first base line from my seat, similar to the corner seats in dodger stadium, but it felt much closer to the action.

sunday's game was the espn sunday night game. pedro martinez was pitching which was exciting, and the dodgers countered with hideo nomo. nomo gave up four runs before exiting in the fourth inning, and although pedro gave up a run in the first, the dodgers couldn't do anything else against him and lost 4-1.

i kept score on friday and saturday, but not sunday, and i took pictures all three days. here are a few:

that one is from friday night. i've cropped the image, but it's me with vin scully and sandy koufax! sure, they are down on the field (talking to the mccourts) and i am in the stands, but still.  

the red sox retired numbers, including jackie robinson's, are also in the photo on the upper facade in right field, but you can't make them out in the photo. i took a better photo of the numbers on saturday when i was sitting on the right field side:

those numbers are for bobby doerr, joe cronin, carl yastrzemski, ted williams, carlton fisk, and jackie robinson.

here's some more friday night fenway posing:

this is the first pitch of the series, from derek lowe to future red sox hero dave roberts:

and this is the first pitch of the bottom of the first, from odalis perez to johnny damon:

keep in mind that the capability of digital cameras back in 2004 was not anywhere near today's level. i think this camera was purchased in 2000, so it was even worse. here's one more photo from friday night:

that's shawn green striking out on a 3-2 count with the bases loaded in the top of the 3rd. i was hoping to catch a big play...

saturday photos include first pitch from tim wakefield to cesar izturis:

and eric gagne jogging in from the bullpen for the bottom of the ninth:

i'll finish with a couple from sunday night. here's pedro heading to the pen pre-game:

and here's his first pitch of the game to dave roberts:

i wore different levels of dodger gear the whole weekend and the red sox fans were nothing but hospitable and friendly. it was a great weekend trip with my siblings, and a few months later, the red sox were world champions for the first time since 1918. coincidence?

it's wasn't the heat, it was the humidity

some extended family members thought it would be a good idea to head to baltimore in early july back in 1999. i went along knowing that i could at least get a baseball game out of the deal, and so i went to my eighth stadium - oriole park at camden yards. i have this 2002 fleer orioles checklist card

in my stadiums i've seen games in mini-collection to represent the event.

here's my ticket stub:

as you can see, the blue jays were in town.  this was the trip during which i saw roy halladay out on the street walking around which was kind of cool i guess. i didn't say anything to him, and there was a group of other players and wives who called out to him anyway.

as for the game itself, david wells was pitching against scott erickson. for me, the best thing was that shawn green (my favorite non-dodger at the time) hit a home run and cal ripken jr played (this was after his streak had ended so it wasn't a given that he would be in the lineup).

what i remember most was how humid it was. it really was almost unbearable. we walked around the stadium and i enjoyed seeing the statue of babe ruth outside of an american league east rival's stadium as well as eutaw street and the warehouse beyond right field. by the time the game started, some in my group decided to head in to one of the stadium's restaurants to try to cool off. others followed suit as the game progressed, and i will admit that i remained in my seat only until about the sixth inning and then joined them.

i didn't take many photos, and most of the ones that were taken that night didn't turn out very well. here's (part of) one that was taken inside the stadium somewhere,

with me standing next to a franchise world championship banner. the 1966 title bothered me since it came at the expense of my favorite team, but i have no issues with the other two. the orioles were the world champs when i was born shortly after the 1970 title was won, and i was rooting for eddie murray and company in 1983.

camden yards was so different from the seven stadiums i had been to previously, and it is still a standout in my memory. if only it hadn't been so humid!

five twentythree oh-two

the first game i ever attended at miller park took place on may 22, 2002, 19 years ago tonight. it was a night game between the dodgers and brewers - turn back the clock night, actually - and a friend and i drove from the twin cities to take it in. i left my camera in our hotel room and just enjoyed the game.  the dodgers didn't wear throwbacks, but the brewers wore old milwaukee braves uniforms. it was a good ol' fashioned pitcher's duel between the dodgers' hideo nomo and the brewers' ben sheets, with the only run coming on a shawn green triple that followed adrian beltre reaching first on a wild pitch strike three.

green had hit two homers the night before in the first game of the series, but we weren't able to get off of work in time to catch that game. instead, we had decided to take off after a half day on wednesday and drive to milwaukee to catch the last two games of the three game series. the final game of the series was a getaway day, with the two teams playing a matinee game on thursday. that featured the aformentioned green hitting four home runs and setting a major league record with 19 total bases. i have a few cards in my "games i've attended" collection to remember the events by:

2002 fleer tradition update this day in history #u1tdh shawn green

2002 fleer tradition update this day in history memorabilia #shgr shawn green

2002 topps etopps event series extra #es2 shawn green

2003 fleer box score #44 shawn green

this card was the subject of a post in august of 2018 in which i mentioned that i did not have a "games i attended" mini-collection. times have changed. here's the back:

2003 fleer box score classic miniatures #13 shawn green

2003 topps #333 shawn green season highlights

2003 topps opening day #161 shawn green season highlights

2003 topps tribute contemporary edition memorable materials #mem-sg shawn green relic

2003 upper deck #261 shawn green season highlight checklist

2003 upper deck standing o starring role jersey #sr-sg shawn green

2012 panini cooperstown famous moments autograph #6 shawn green

2013 panini hometown heroes curtain calls #cc5 shawn green

2013 panini hometown heroes curtain calls gold #cc5 shawn green

2015 topps update rarities

it was such an awesome display to witness. i've shown my ticket stub before, but here's the program:

and my scorecard:

for some reason i colored in all of the runs and not just the home runs.  unlike the night before, i took my camera to this game. the roof was open, which was nice. here's a shot looking down the left field line with jackie robinson's retired number on display

we bought tickets for the terrace reserved section, which are the cheapest in the ballpark. however, by the time the 7th inning rolled around, we were down behind home plate as green was coming up again and we wanted to be as close to the action as we could. this next photo is from alex sanchez' at bat in the bottom of the 7th. that's richie sexson on third, and you can see the other retired numbers on display for hank aaron, rollie fingers, robin yount, and paul molitor.

even though the roof was open, the large glass wall beyond the outfield made it feel like a shopping mall. 

i took this picture in the top of the 8th inning as green came to bat for the fifth time

he singled in that at bat, and we figured that was his last shot at a fourth home run. however, in the top of the ninth, adrian beltre homered with two outs and green on deck to extend the inning. here's a shot of beltre going deep

that brought green to the plate for a sixth time

and he hit home run number four

as you can imagine, i was pretty excited when i got my photos developed (yes, i was still using a film camera). here's a shot of green returning to the dugout

you can see that the back of the topps card was correct in that green received a standing ovation from the fans in the stadium, although it wasn't just brewers fans.

here's a shot of the final on the scoreboard

the home run distance shown in is reference to alex ochoa's home run that came with two out in the bottom of the ninth - the program cover boy delivered!

one more photo of the game wrap up

the other thing i remember about this game was watching kevin brown throw a pre-game session with pitching coach jim colborn. brown was on the mend as i recall but he was throwing hard.  i haven't been back to milwaukee since, so i'll also show a card from my "stadiums i've seen a game in" mini-collection.  this one is from 2002 fleer

and while we are sticking with mini-collections, i will also show the cards that represent shawn green in my favorite non-dodger and favorite dodger through the years mini collections.

i adopted green as my favorite non-dodger after the 1994 players' strike. paul molitor (my previous favorite non-dodger) was still active and performing at a high level, but green was in his first season as an every day player, and i was living in his home town of tustin, so it was easier to follow him. without further ado, here are the cards:

1995 upper deck collector's choice special edition

1996 topps

1997 upper deck

1998 donruss collections preferred

1999 pacific revolution diamond legacy

my favorite dodger during that run from 1995 through 1999 was raul mondesi, who was traded to the blue jays for green prior to the 2000 season. making green my new favorite dodger was a no-brainer. here are the cards that represent him in that role:

2000 pacific crown royale feature attractions

2001 bowman's best

2002 fleer ultra

2003 topps season highlights

2004 fleer classic clippings

green was then dealt to the diamondbacks before the 2005 season, and i was left wondering who would take his place. i wound up settling on none other than milton bradley. here's the card that i have in my mini-collection to represent his tenure:

2005 fleer ultra

bradley had turned in a productive 2004 season while also exhibiting his temper. he had undergone counseling in the offseason, and i was really rooting for the name on the back of the jersey in addition to the name on the front. besides, the 2005 dodgers were a real rag-tag group of guys cobbled together in the image of manager jim tracy.

bradley got off to a great start to the 2005 season but was injured towards the end of may and missed almost two months. he played for another month before returning to the dl for the remainder of the season. that was about the time that word came out that there had been a couple of domestic violence reports against him and i knew i was looking for a new favorite player - enter nomar, who like green, had at one time been my favorite non-dodger. this post has taken on a life of its own, so i'll just end it by saying i will never forget my trip to milwaukee, and while i secretly hope for something spectacular to happen every time i go to the ballpark, i don't think i will ever see anything like that again.