Just post your favorite baseball stories that you or a family member has been involved in--in this thread. Ex: Getting ejected from a game, etc.

Nate - I like this idea for a topic. I know I have some funny ones but here are a couple told for different reasons.

One time at a tournament in Kent Ohio, in July, it was 105 degree temperature and high humidity. Every player in the dugout continually had their heads wrapped with white towels that had been soaked in ice water between innings. The moms and the dads worked very hard that day making ice trips to the gas stations, soaking towels, and generally looking after the players. The dugout looked like a bunch of Shieks at a convention

Another one was we were trailing by 12 runs with two outs in the last inning. That's when we mounted our comeback. With one out remaining, we got the score back to 13-12 and the bases loaded with our clean-up hitter up. He hit a rocket shot that was caught by their center fielder to end the game and bases loaded. I'll never forget how he cried his eyes out and all of us telling him that he had done his job by hitting the ball hard.

Nate,

My favorite story - (not involving the kids) - happened in 1976. Hope it is not too long.

My HS team had not lost a game through the 3/4 mark. We were 16-0 - and we were facing a tough team in our next game - and it was an away game.

During the days leading up to the game - the opposing coach went to the papers - 3 days in a row - and blabbed about how we were overrated and how they were going to spank us. Our coach never responded in any way.

Game day - at their field. Big crowd - and the field had a 3 story house behind dead centerfield. To hit the house - it was a good poke - close to 400 feet.


Leadoff hitter - Ron Lindberg (Tigers drafted him in the 16th round in 1979.)

First pitch of the game - went right through the 3rd floor window of the house.

Second pitch of the game to the Second batter - Me - went through the 2nd floor window of the house.

Third pitch of the game - to Joe "Bubba" Biondo - Went over the house. LOL

We won 17-2 and that was the end of that coach ever opening his yapper again.

God's honest truth.

LOL

itsinthegame - I loved that story

How could you ever forget something like that???

Your story sums up my entire philosophy about baseball. Bad things can happen when opening your mouth. Performance on the field speaks the loudest.

Cleveland - one more and then I will stop. I promise.

HS Playoffs - my senior year - against Lynn Pinkston (Cardinals drafted him). A 6'3 - 210 pound pitcher that would scare the heck out of you.

No score 5th inning - I get up and fool around in the batters box. Call time out - crouch down - all that stuff.

He goes 3-0 on me. then says what the heck - you wanna get to first? - take this.

A 92 MPH fastball at my feet - hits my lead foot and smashes it. Broken.

I go to first - 2nd pitch - steal 2nd. Next pitch - steal 3rd. Score on sac fly - we win 1-0.

LOL

Then I went to the hospital. LOL

quote:

Then I went to the hospital.

Great stories

There is a Kentucky is #7 thread in this forum where lafmom posted a nice story about Michael Bertram of UK who was also a fine mentor to her son Michael. He seems like your type of player

My dad has a lot of great baseball stories. Wish I could remember them all.

With me, one of my best was when I was 13. I was pitching, and the 4th pitch of the game, I threw a curveball. When I threw the pitch, I broke my elbow. The muscle literally tore the bone in half and the doc told me I was done for the season, throwing right-handed. Because it was my right elbow, I couldn't swing right-handed either.

So, baseball was life. I decided that I wasn't going to stop playing, and I batted left-handed the rest of the year and played outfield left-handed the rest of the summer. It didn't hurt my elbow to swing left-handed, because I didn't have to tork my right elbow, it was weird.

Anyhow, I still hit over .300 that summer, left handed, and actually developed my left arm very well and threw the ball decent left-handed. I can't throw left-handed as well now as back then since I haven't worked on it, but I could probably throw at least 50 MPH left-handed, lol.

Another story that I liked was two summers ago. We were playing this team from Cincinnati, and I got thrown out at third. The third baseman, when I was getting up, shoved me back into the ground with his glove. He had about 80 pounds on me, literally. I picked him up by his shirt and tossed him onto his butt. The whole situation got ugly, because this was right by their 3rd base dugout. We almost had a bench clearing brawl. Both benches cleared, but nobody threw punches.

There are some others, but that's a good start.

Gosh, Nate, what a great idea!!!

I told CD the kid in that story and my son were both were very physical players and the kind that always had the "cheek of their pants" gone. So, I love hearing stories of those tough and gritty gonna get it done kids!

When that particular UK player was a senior and my son was a freshman, we won districts and lost in the very last game of the regional playoffs. My son didn't play in the game - just sat the bench. We were outscored in only one inning of the game only to loose th game. On the way home, my son sobbed like I had never seen him do. I just let him cry and finally I said "that was a tough one huh". He looked at me and said "I'll never get to play with some of those guys again". My heart just melted! It wasn't the loss of the game - it was the loss of the teammates, including Micahel Bertram that the story is about.

For me, that memory reminds me of the bonds that he and I have received from the game that he's chosen to make such a big part of our lives. The friends and teammates make many stories outside of the field as well! I'm so thankful for many, many memories!

It's - hope you come back and share some more! I have lots of memories too!!! I never tire of hearing baseball stories!

Just got done watching the full replay of the Barker PG from 1981.

The original live broadcast was witnessed by me and very good friends in my mothers tavern in Cleveland on that Friday evening.

At the time, I was a college student, and I recall I never scheduled a class on Fridays, ever!! Had a few all-day Saturdays though.

We all met that afternoon to have fun, and 12 hours later, still couldn't decide if better tasting/less filling was a real debate. Even after 24 of them, I couldn't decide.

The 3am full breakfast only contributed to the subsequent pain, abdominal that is..........but the PG, and that sick, late-breaking hook of Large Lenny's was truly unhittable.

Agree??

Another good baseball story here.

My brother who's now playing at Cedarville University, was pitching one time. It was the first inning, and there were two outs. He picked a guy off of first base, got the kid in a pickle, and he eventually made the tag on the kid himself. It was not an unusual tag, not a hard tag. The kid was very small, he was changing directions, and he fell to the ground. The umpire ran out to first base and said "the runner's out, and the #23 has been ejected from the game for a hard tag."

My brother, being the 'not so calm' guy that he was at the age of 15, launched the ball deep into the outfielf, hurled his baseball equipment over the dugout and off the field, and threw a tantrum. You just would have had to have been there to know how funny it was. My dad was helping out on the bench that game and when he went out on the field to try to calm my brother down, the umpire ejected him for stepping on the field!

Later that night, my brother called the umpire to apologize for throwing a fit. The umpire said that he made the wrong call and only did it because he was informed earlier that day that he was no longer welcome back umpiring at that field, at the end of that day.

I'm sure I've said and done things at ball games where I could've been thrown out of a ball game, but the one time that I was thrown out was the preachers fault! It was a 9 and 10 yr old league and we were away and they furnished the ump who was about 18. When we were pitching the strike zone was half the size as theirs (for real) and our coach was banging things around and saying things like, "oh come on"! Evidently the ump thought that I was the culprit because he glared over at me and I told him in a rather quiet voice that his strike zone was a little small for 9&10 yr olds. He yelled a few things at me so I kept my mouth shut until the fifth when they had a force play at 2nd, we hit one to center and our runner was slow getting there and they threw the ball to the 2nd baseman who was standing 3 feet from the bag. The 2nd baseman made no attempt to move toward the base or tag our runner but the umpire called him out anyway. Our people were not happy and I was 10-15' from the umpire and I tried to explain to him (no yelling) that the 2nd baseman never stepped on the base, he started screaming at me (bad day) and said if he heard one more word from me I was gone. He barely had time to turn around and the preacher came walking by with a big smile and say's to me, "oh my" and the ump heard it, whirled around and screamed in a high pitched voice, "that's it, you're out'a here"! I said Blue that wasn't me, I didn't say anything. He screamed again saying, I don't care, you're sitting there with that smart aleck look on your face! So I had to watch the game from the parking lot