A few bloggers are showing their tix. I might as well, too.
Certainly, chemgod is welcome to any of these scans. I hope he's not doing a Ticket to Stardom set. We don't need another one of those.
Unfortunately, I am a VERY sporadic ticket saver. I don't think I have saved tickets from even a quarter of the events I have attended. In fact, I didn't save the ticket from the minor league game I went to last summer, the most recent pro sporting event I viewed in person. Just didn't think of it, I guess.
Of the tickets I am going to show, some are from games I didn't even attend. That's how messed up this collection is.
For instance, I don't have a ticket from Eric Gagne's not-so-triumphant return to Montreal when the Dodgers played the Expos in 2002. Gagne blew the game in the 8th inning as Troy O'Leary hit a go-ahead home run.
I was there to cover the game, and they gave me a ticket to go with my press pass (I also save press passes), but I have only the press pass left. Here it is:
I don't know what I like more, the french text or that super tall signature.
It's strange how often I travel outside the country to see my national pastime. This game was in Toronto in 1998. The Yankees' Andy Pettitte vs. the Blue Jays' Roger Clemens. I sat directly behind home plate. I was rooting for the Jays, even though I was starting to sour on Clemens. The Blue Jays romped, which has kept alive my streak of never having seen the Yankees win in person.
This game took place exactly a month after my daughter was born. It was a very weird time. I was in town as part of a "new editors" convention and there were sports editors from all over the U.S. and Canada, mostly from small papers. A female sports editor from a certain Canadian province, hit on me in a major way. I mean like in a, "want to come up to my hotel room" way. A very weird time.
Speaking of the strike, eventual strike replacement player Rick Reed won this game for the Royals. Mo Vaughn hit a homer for Boston, but that was about the only thing to cheer about for the outfield fans in Fenway.
If you'll notice, I sat in Section 36, a place where another blogger spends a lot of his time.
Unfortunately, those are the only tickets of attended MLB games that I can find.
Here are two tickets to the inaugural game at the new Pilot Field, which was the home of the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Very fancy tickets. And the largest baseball tickets I've ever seen. They're much bigger than I'm showing here.
This was during Buffalo's big quest to land a major league baseball team. Things were looking up. The owners had built a minor league stadium downtown in hopes of drawing MLB's interest. It never happened. As you'll notice, Buffalo played Denver in this game, and Denver ended up with the major league team, along with Miami.
More tickets for a stadium opener.
I was able to obtain tickets to the first game at SkyDome in Toronto. The Blue Jays were playing the Brewers. Then, at the last minute, couldn't go (don't really remember why). I never saw the Brewers' 5-3 victory.
The tickets are in pristine shape. I have kept them that way to remind me to never let an opportunity like that slip by again.
Final ticket. Also one that I didn't attend. But I have a really good excuse. I wasn't born.
I received this ticket for Game 6 of the 1951 World Series between the Yankees and the Giants from my grandfather when I was young. I never got the chance to ask why he had it, how he received it, or whether it was used or not. I can't quite tell and have never done any research to see what an unused ticket looked like in the 1950s.
Game 6 was the final game of the Series, a 4-3 victory for the Yankees. It would have been a great game to attend. Well, except for the Yankees winning part. The Giants rallied for two runs in the ninth inning before pinch-hitter Sal Yvars lined out to right fielder Hank Bauer with the tying run on second for the final out.
I also have some tickets to hockey games and football games that I have attended, but I try to stick to baseball here.
Maybe one day I'll show my press pass collection. It's rather extensive. But it's not as fun watching a game in an air-conditioned booth. Trust me. It's not.
Certainly, chemgod is welcome to any of these scans. I hope he's not doing a Ticket to Stardom set. We don't need another one of those.
Unfortunately, I am a VERY sporadic ticket saver. I don't think I have saved tickets from even a quarter of the events I have attended. In fact, I didn't save the ticket from the minor league game I went to last summer, the most recent pro sporting event I viewed in person. Just didn't think of it, I guess.
Of the tickets I am going to show, some are from games I didn't even attend. That's how messed up this collection is.
For instance, I don't have a ticket from Eric Gagne's not-so-triumphant return to Montreal when the Dodgers played the Expos in 2002. Gagne blew the game in the 8th inning as Troy O'Leary hit a go-ahead home run.
I was there to cover the game, and they gave me a ticket to go with my press pass (I also save press passes), but I have only the press pass left. Here it is:
I don't know what I like more, the french text or that super tall signature.
It's strange how often I travel outside the country to see my national pastime. This game was in Toronto in 1998. The Yankees' Andy Pettitte vs. the Blue Jays' Roger Clemens. I sat directly behind home plate. I was rooting for the Jays, even though I was starting to sour on Clemens. The Blue Jays romped, which has kept alive my streak of never having seen the Yankees win in person.
This game took place exactly a month after my daughter was born. It was a very weird time. I was in town as part of a "new editors" convention and there were sports editors from all over the U.S. and Canada, mostly from small papers. A female sports editor from a certain Canadian province, hit on me in a major way. I mean like in a, "want to come up to my hotel room" way. A very weird time.
You can tell I don't do a great job of preserving these things. The typed print is just about gone off the ticket. If you view it in person, you can tell the Phillies played the Pirates on Aug. 3, 1994, which was exactly nine days before the strike that wiped out the World Series.
But they didn't take my baseball away before I saw Danny Jackson pitch a complete-game shutout and Kevin Stocker and Ricky Jordan hit home runs. Excitement!
It was at old Veterans Stadium, of course. We had seats way in the upper deck in right field. During the game, this guy walked the entire stadium through the whole game. He didn't stop to watch it once as far as I could tell. Here I was, thrilled to watch a major league game once every 4 years or so, and this guy spent it as an exercise venue.
Speaking of the strike, eventual strike replacement player Rick Reed won this game for the Royals. Mo Vaughn hit a homer for Boston, but that was about the only thing to cheer about for the outfield fans in Fenway.
If you'll notice, I sat in Section 36, a place where another blogger spends a lot of his time.
Unfortunately, those are the only tickets of attended MLB games that I can find.
Here are two tickets to the inaugural game at the new Pilot Field, which was the home of the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. Very fancy tickets. And the largest baseball tickets I've ever seen. They're much bigger than I'm showing here.
This was during Buffalo's big quest to land a major league baseball team. Things were looking up. The owners had built a minor league stadium downtown in hopes of drawing MLB's interest. It never happened. As you'll notice, Buffalo played Denver in this game, and Denver ended up with the major league team, along with Miami.
More tickets for a stadium opener.
I was able to obtain tickets to the first game at SkyDome in Toronto. The Blue Jays were playing the Brewers. Then, at the last minute, couldn't go (don't really remember why). I never saw the Brewers' 5-3 victory.
The tickets are in pristine shape. I have kept them that way to remind me to never let an opportunity like that slip by again.
Final ticket. Also one that I didn't attend. But I have a really good excuse. I wasn't born.
I received this ticket for Game 6 of the 1951 World Series between the Yankees and the Giants from my grandfather when I was young. I never got the chance to ask why he had it, how he received it, or whether it was used or not. I can't quite tell and have never done any research to see what an unused ticket looked like in the 1950s.
Game 6 was the final game of the Series, a 4-3 victory for the Yankees. It would have been a great game to attend. Well, except for the Yankees winning part. The Giants rallied for two runs in the ninth inning before pinch-hitter Sal Yvars lined out to right fielder Hank Bauer with the tying run on second for the final out.
I also have some tickets to hockey games and football games that I have attended, but I try to stick to baseball here.
Maybe one day I'll show my press pass collection. It's rather extensive. But it's not as fun watching a game in an air-conditioned booth. Trust me. It's not.
Comments
I save every ticket from every sporting event I attend, and on 2 occasions bought tickets to games I did not attend -- 2004 Red Sox World Series clincher (PSA slabbed) and a Jay Bruce first MLB Home run.