SI.com's "Things We Miss in Baseball."

I really miss County Stadium. I knew every nook and cranny of that place, to the point where I knew how to sneak into the press box level without getting caught.

Something completely random you don't see anymore? At County Stadium, the vendors would put Saran Wrap over the sodas to keep them cold. I have no idea why I even remember that, but it seemed cool to peel it off and have a nice cold drink.

Now that I've channeled Space: The Inner Frontier with Haray Caray, I'm going to ponder whether I'd eat the moon if it was made out of spare ribs.

 

Turn That Fucker Down It's Fucking Deadline, Charlie Brown. [/greatest thread ever]

 

I have a pennant commemorating the Jays' 92 WS win behind my bar. I remember when those were the cool thing too.

Bubbs's point about Saran Wrap over the pop at Brewers' games reminded me that at Exhibition Stadium, particularly early in the season when it was sub-Arctic there, a vendor would come around with this huge container full of hot chocolate strapped to his back. You'd get a cup and he'd squirt some in there. It was shit but it might postpone frostbite for a half inning or so. They also sold pop in a milk carton type thing. You'd buy one and get four small cups. Never seen it before or since.

 

Good lord, at least I know what BYH's team name in the NIAFL means now. I feel enlightened.

 

The retrosheet list has a couple of omissions. I remember attending an Expos-Indianapolis Indians game in 1984, thinking how cool their powder blue road uniforms looked. That, and I was so excited about seeing Pete Rose play in person, we made sure to get seats behind first base. Game ended in an 11-inning tie.

I'm not sure how many times the Expos came to Indy for a mid-season exhibition during their 9-year affiliation -- maybe once or twice more after 1984 -- but the Reds came to Indianapolis at least once (and, I think, only once) after they renewed their affiliation with Indianapolis in 1993 (it was either 1993 or 1994).

 

Always and forever. Stirrups
are the only way to go. The old-man crap they run out there now is chrono-moronic.

 

I loved hot dogs at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. That mustard...amazing. They sell it in Cleveland at some grocery stores, called Bertman's or something like that. Anyone wants some let me know and I will ship it your way. Nothing like it in the world. Now, at Progressive Field, you can get sushi and garbage like that. Dog and a beer, why would you want to eat anything else at a baseball game?
Bubbler, I hear what you are saying about COunty Stadium and knowing every nook and cranny. I used to go down to Municipal and pay $3.50 for a general admission seat. I'd sit in the last posible section in left field, right by the foul pole, and would sneak down through the tunnel behind the fence during batting practice and walk out with handfuls of baseballs. I might be the only person in Cleveland that was sad when they tore that place down.

 

Lived my summers and semester breaks away from Ball State in NE Ohio from 1989-95. Cleveland Stadium was underrated as a baseball stadium (reminded me of a giant County Stadium, sight lines were good if you didn't have a column in front of you) and overrated as a football stadium, though it was fun to go to Browns games.

I was there in '95 to watch Browns-Packers after Modell announced the move and I knew it was my last visit. I miss it.

 

The first game I actually covered was a Browns-Patriots game at Municipal in the late 1980's. Had to walk on the roof to get to the press box, with wind whipping off the lake. Felt like you were going to get bown off the roof. Sat next to Bob Ryan. It was quite an experience.

 

This is related to the Commons thread, but I miss the team roster cards that doubled as checklists. I always used them to bookend each team in my card holder.

 

God, I so hate it when baseball Luddites invoke the name of Earl Weaver when attacking statistical analysis by managers. Earl practically invented statistic analysis by managers, keeping track of things like individual players' platoon splits and batting averages against different pitchers on his famous set of index cards (and just as often in his head). And after Weaver, probably the greatest proponent of such practices is Tony La Russa, who is only the fourth-winningest manager in baseball history.

But yeah, give me red-assed losers like Larry Bowa and Hal McRae over guys who actually use their heads and win. Morons.