Twenty five years ago today my father took me to my first baseball game. By the time I first set foot inside Old Comiskey Park I was already a baseball junkie. The great finish by the 1983 White Sox helped get me started. Seeing the team at the winter caravan which came to my town that off season really started me loving this team. I even won one of the door prizes which was an autographed ball by Minnie Minoso, Mike Squires, Ron Kittle, The Hawk, and Ribbie and Rubarb. 1984 was the first year that I started collecting baseball cards as well. Of course all of the cards that I really wanted had White Sox players on them. My summer was spent watching the White Sox on a small black and white TV that got WFLD in good enough to watch. This was in the days of rabbit ears and dials helping you fine tune a station. If you would have asked my nine year old self what the term HD I would have told you heavy duty. Just a couple of days before I turned nine though my father took me to see Comiskey Park which was in its 75th year. I normally will not post pictures that are not my own, but since I did not have a camera that day I had to make due with other peoples. Things will be back to normal tomorrow though. Continue reading
Category Archives: Carlton Fisk
Pudge Ties Pudge’s Record For Games Caught
Tonight in Texas when the game became official Ivan Rodriguez passed Bob Boone to move into a tie for most games caught in a career with Carlton Fisk. It is nice for Rodriguez that he would tie the record, and possibly break it tomorrow where he played a large portion of his career, in Arlington. He played his first 12 seasons there, and it is fortuitous that he would come back with the Astros at this time to get the record. He is scheduled to catch tomorrow, and when the fifth rolls around he will get credit for having caught his 2,227th career game moving him into first all by himself. The records that Fisk set in his career are falling more and more everyday.
One thing that Ivan better watch out though. There is a reason that Fisk only caught one more game than Boone. The White Sox released him as soon as the record was his. It was not until much later that the Sox and Fisk mended that fence. I think Rodriguez will be around a little longer though. When Rodriguez hangs up his spikes for good the countdown will begin to when we will see both Pudges’ in the Hall of Fame.
This Makes Me Hungry
While searching for a clip of the 1975 home run yesterday on youtube I stubled upon this old commercial for Pizza Hut. It features Carlton Fisk and Rich Dotson eating and talking about the White Sox placemats. I used to have those things, and I know they were thrown away which makes me sick. Readers of this blog know that I met both of these players at my first game in 1985. That makes this video even better. This is a great clip that reminds me of the good ole days. It also makes me hungry.
October 21st, 1975
On this day in 1975 Carlton Fisk hit the biggest home run of his career. I had completely forgotten about what day it was until I saw a post on 30 year old cardboard that reminded me of it. Thanks for the reminder. His home run made him a national name, and probably helped speed up his induction into the Hall of Fame. It is his most well known moment, and although I wasn’t even born yet one of my biggest memories of him. It is the home run that I measure all home runs with. In 2005 my team hit some big home runs, and actually won the World Series. Some of those are pretty close to this one, but they don’t compete.
Who To Root For?
Now that the Sox are done I have to pick someone else to pull for the rest of the way. I always would pull for the other Sox since my favorite player used to play for them, but ever since 2004 it has been harder to do. Once they won it I felt like a bandwagon guy. I bought a Red Sox hat a month or so before they won the ’04 series, and have only worn it a couple of times since then. I could root for the Dodgers since they swept the Cubs, but they beat the Sox back in 1959. Right now I am not the biggest Rays fan, but I think they have the best shot of winning it all. It would be hard to suddenly root for that team though. I really have nothing to say about the Phillies. What I have decided to do is to make a scientific pick. I will check the rosters of each team, and whoever has the most former White Sox players will be my new team. That should do it.
Red Sox 0
Phillies 1
Dodgers 1
Rays 1
That did not work at all. I now have a three way tie. The Phillies have Scott Eyre, the Dodgers have Pablo Ozuna, and the Rays have Chad Bradford. I was going to give it to the Dodgers because Ozuna won the series with the Sox, but decided to look at the 40 man roster and go deeper. Here is what I came up with there:
Phillies 3
Dodgers 1
Red Sox 2
Rays 1
The Phillies have Tom Gordon and Tadahito Iguchi injured right now, so they count towards the Phillies side. The Dodgers stand pat with Ozuna after the 40 man. The Red Sox gain a couple with David Aardsma and Bartolo Colon. The Rays stay put with one. So it looks as though I will have to root for the Phillies. I can also root for the other Sox team to make it to the series. Wait a minute. Both Sox teams won their last titles back to back (’04 and ’05). They did the same thing the time before that (’17 and ’18). The Red Sox won the series last year so maybe they are on tap to win this year, and then the White Sox will take the next two. I guess I will root for the Phillies and Red Sox to meet in the series, then see what my gut tells me.
Last of the Fisk Night Pictures
Here are the last remaining pictures from Carlton Fisk Night. None of these have been Pulitzer worthy, but they get the point across. Enjoy!
Confessions of a Sports Junkie 