Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Retro Gallery: 1989

July 9th, 1989. Fenway Park. Red Sox vs. yankees.

My friend Mike's dad used to get really sweet Fenway seats. I'm talkin' front row, by the Red Sox on-deck circle, right next to the late Libby Dooley.

Danny Heep signs autographs. Embedded nameless quiz: How did Danny Heep end a spring training game in his first season with Boston? Quiz for Pat only: What kitchen object did we point at and chant the name of while Heep was up in that spring training game for good luck?

I think my mom was in love with Rick Cerone that day or something. She's the one with the camera here. Note: For this game it was me, my mom, my dad, and Mike, as Mike's dad couldn't go or whatever, but was still nice enough to get us tickets.

A black cloud leaves the area as Mike Greenwell is announced in the starting lineup.

The Chicken Man Boggs.

My favorite, Mike Greenwell, heads to the on-deck circle, where he'd hang out with Tommy the bat boy. (Dooley tipped us off to his name.)

Nick Esasky homered that day, much like he did every other day that summer.

The Gator steps up to the plate as yankee catcher Bob Geren looks on.

Gator at the plate as Dewey waits on deck.

After Evans was left hanging, he did this awesome thing with a batting donut, his bat, and his helmet.

Me with cult hero Rich Gedman. (And Randy Kutcher.)

Dewey would later homer off of Dale "The Iron Horse" Mahorcic. Here he gives Kevin Romine five after rounding the bases.

Lee Smith got the win that day. Here, people clamor for a glimpse of the big dude as he heads to the dugout.

Me, Mike, and my dad. (Mike is a yankee fan, as is his dad.)

The sweatpants are off to reveal the boxers, which, unbelievably, we both thought were just regular shorts. No trip to Fenway is complete without a visit to the bullpen car. I've said this before, but wasn't my experience as a thirteen-year old so much different from those girls in the movie Thirteen?

Anyway, we won 10-5 to close to within a half game of the yanks. We were in third, six behind Baltimore. But it was Toronto who would come back from way out of it to win the East that year. The Red Sox would go on to win the World Series in 2004. David Lee Roth is currently America's favorite TV game show host.

Comments:
Sweet retro pix, and a great shot of you with the Mighty 10. Romine, Kutcher, Gedman-how did we not win the series that year? I beleive the Heep-related good luck item was some sort of weird egg pan, but this was like 16 years ago, so I could be wrong...
 
Aren't those type of memories great? What a difference just the hint of color as we know it makes.
 
What gets to me being flashed back to 1989 is damned Nick Esasky. He was the next Tony Perez/Tony Armas/Don Baylor power hitter made for Fenway. I thought he would be there for years to come. To have him leave, then develop vertigo and be out of baseball, was sad.

That said, the late eighties was also the period of enthusiasm for home-grown prospects who failed miserably. For some reason, we all believed more in this group for some reason. Damn Todd Benzinger to hell, I say!
 
"Egg pan" is the correct item. We pointed at some little pan my mom had hanging on the wall, and chanted "egg pan" until Heep walked in the winning run. To go that far to get a win in an exhibition game is pretty hard core.

Yeah, too bad about Esasky's vertigo. I really thought he was gonna be an all-time great. And we did have a lot of youngsters then. It was a fun time, from Morgan's Magic through that 1990 season.
 
A. In case anyone wonders why I had an egg pan hanging from the wall, it was actually an antique copper omelette pan.
B. I wasn't in love with Rick Cerone; he came walking along in front of the seats and I asked him to autograph his picture in the program. He looked at his picture and said to me, "I grew a moustache since that picture. Do you like me better with or without." I said, "With." He gave me a big smile. I take it back; I fell in love with him. (It's not like he was playing.)
Mom
 
Didn't he draw the moustache into the picture?

What is it about us and loving Red Sox catchers? We had Fisk, who we all loved, especially you (mom); Bob Montgomery, beloved announcer; Rich Gedman, no need to explain; Gary Allenson, whose nickname, Muggsy, was given by you (mom) to that black stuffed cat we used to have, in honor of Alllenson; Rick Cerone, see above; Tony Pena, for his fun-lovin pranksterish attitude and sitting on his legs while catching; Scott Hatteburg, well, now I'm stretchin' it, but I did like him a lot; Mike MacFarlane, who dad called "Spanky," no doubt after some fifties character; Mike Stanley, who we loved when he wasn't in pinstripes, much like Cerone; right up to the current Captain.

Maybe it has to do with their being involved in every play, every game. On defense.
 
Wow that's a great page,Rich"the Goon"Gedman was a good guy but his career did'nt last that long,that's too bad. He was one of the reasons I liked the Sox,because I was a catcher,so Geddy & Fisk were the best in Boston. Other fan can have Pena,Cerone,Stanley,MacFarlane,J.V.& Hatteburg(who also wore #10) but Gedman was the best..!!!
 

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