Old Time Family Baseball

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Here’s a story about my love of this wonderful game:

I grew up on baseball.  It’s in my blood.  I was “genetically pre-disposed” to a love of this game.

My father loved the game and it was, and still is, the thing that binds us the most.  I cannot have a phone conversation without discussing the Cardinals with him, even in January.

When we moved to Missouri in 1985, my father immediately took me to a game at Busch Memorial Stadium (commonly referred to as Busch II).  By 1986 we were attending games most every weekend.  It was growing up that I learned that the term “Bleacher Bum” was not an insult.

That’s where we sat.  My dad was a working man who supported his family on the strength of his back every day.  The weekends were his to enjoy, most of the time, and at the stadium is where he wanted to enjoy them.  Not being a man of great means, this meant sitting in the cheap seats.  I will tell you now, some twenty-seven years later, there is no better view that I have found.

Sitting in the bleachers in St. Louis in those days meant standing in line for most of the day to get good seats.  You see, tickets in the bleachers would not go on sale until two hours prior to game time and if you wanted to be sitting in the front row, that meant you better be in line three to four hours before that.  Going to a game growing up was an all day affair.

I can remember that very first autograph that got me hooked.  I was watching the Houston Astros warm up during batting practice and noticed that one of the players stopped running and leaned against the wall where no one could see him.  I slid over and dropped my glove to him, gaining the scrawled “Jose Cruz” across the thumb of my childhood mitt.

It was not long before I found out that the visiting players stayed across from the stadium at a local hotel.  My parents agreed to let me hang around that side of the stadium, opposite from where the line for bleacher tickets would form, and wait for autographs.  I met numerous players and acquired multiple signatures, all of which I still own.  I have never sold an autographed piece, nor do I ever intend to.

Today, I am one of the many people that are working hard to push the envelope of New Media.  I challenge people to explain to me how some sites are not “media” simply because they are not in print or on a traditional airwave.  I have interviewed countless players for websites, broadcasts, and much more.  But I refuse to stop being a fan of this game.

Last summer, thanks to a great friend, I got a chance to meet my boyhood idol Pete Rose in a lobby of a hotel.  An impromptu, casual meeting lead to a five or ten minute conversation.  Just recently, during a media event, I found myself face to face with George Brett.  Both times I managed to squeak out a question or two and eventually relaxed enough to carry on a conversation about the game we all love.

But for just a few minutes, in the presence of two of the greatest hitters the game has ever seen, I felt like that nervous kid who wanted to ask for an autograph but didn’t know what to say.  

I hope I never lose that feeling.

Bill Ivie is the Assignment Editor for Baseball Digest and owns and operates i70baseball.com, providing daily Cardinals and Royals coverage.

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