7.23.2009
Sigh... baseball memories
Found this photo recently. It was taken in June, 1979. Greg Luzinski's nickname was "The Bull" and this photo shows why - he looks like a linebacker. A quote I found while searching the internet:
"At 225 pounds he (Greg Luzinski) is a doorway and a half. They could hold the Winter Olympics on his shoulders, balance Rhode Island on his knees, and plug up leaky dams with his feet." - Phil Elderkin of The Christian Science Monitor (1979)"
I'm pretty sure it was this game:
(other notables on this team - Schmidt, Rose... check out the Phillies pitcher: Tug McGraw! Yep, Tim's dad.)
So my dear friend Special K would have been but a couple of weeks old :-)
On the back of the photo I wrote - "Left Fld. Greg Luzinski, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astrodome, June 1979"
Not the beginning of my baseball love by any means - that started when I was about 5 and my brother was playing Little League at North Austin Optimist. I didn't want to go play on the monkey bars like all the other siblings, I wanted to watch the game. Back then they sold bags of candy to raise money for the league. David would send me door to door because he figured they couldn't resist a cute little 5 year old girl, selling candy so her " bid bwrudder" could play baseball. He eventually got in trouble when my mom found out. But not before more than 3/4 of his booty was sold!
Anyway, I love what this photo represents. It's hard to put it in words, but it just makes me smile. We didn't have a lot of money growing up, but my mother was a baseball fanatic. (go figure) Several times in the summer we would drive down to Houston, go to AstroWorld, and attend a couple of games. Oddly - we were not Astros Fans. We always rooted for the other team. Especially if it was the Cincinnati Reds. Huge Johnny Bench fans! If I remember correctly, these box seat tickets - that is actually how close we were behind the 3rd base dugout in the photo - were $4 each. But also, I was always the picture taker. Took me some time to learn technique, obviously, but I wish I could find all these old photos. I suppose they are lost - I have photo albums "somewhere". I moved about every 6 months in my 20's, so no telling. This photo was taken with a little 110 camera. The cartridges looked like this:
And my camera was very similar to this, complete with flash bulbs...
The Astrodome is long gone - at least as far as hosting Astros games. I've been to the new park once, and while it is nice, it didn't feel "real". I didn't hear anyone hawking "The Coldest Foam in the Dome".
I guess I am lamenting since UT Baseball has ended and I'm in that lull before Football begins. Seems to get me every year, so that explains the rambling.
"At 225 pounds he (Greg Luzinski) is a doorway and a half. They could hold the Winter Olympics on his shoulders, balance Rhode Island on his knees, and plug up leaky dams with his feet." - Phil Elderkin of The Christian Science Monitor (1979)"
I'm pretty sure it was this game:
(other notables on this team - Schmidt, Rose... check out the Phillies pitcher: Tug McGraw! Yep, Tim's dad.)
So my dear friend Special K would have been but a couple of weeks old :-)
On the back of the photo I wrote - "Left Fld. Greg Luzinski, Philadelphia Phillies, Houston Astrodome, June 1979"
Not the beginning of my baseball love by any means - that started when I was about 5 and my brother was playing Little League at North Austin Optimist. I didn't want to go play on the monkey bars like all the other siblings, I wanted to watch the game. Back then they sold bags of candy to raise money for the league. David would send me door to door because he figured they couldn't resist a cute little 5 year old girl, selling candy so her " bid bwrudder" could play baseball. He eventually got in trouble when my mom found out. But not before more than 3/4 of his booty was sold!
Anyway, I love what this photo represents. It's hard to put it in words, but it just makes me smile. We didn't have a lot of money growing up, but my mother was a baseball fanatic. (go figure) Several times in the summer we would drive down to Houston, go to AstroWorld, and attend a couple of games. Oddly - we were not Astros Fans. We always rooted for the other team. Especially if it was the Cincinnati Reds. Huge Johnny Bench fans! If I remember correctly, these box seat tickets - that is actually how close we were behind the 3rd base dugout in the photo - were $4 each. But also, I was always the picture taker. Took me some time to learn technique, obviously, but I wish I could find all these old photos. I suppose they are lost - I have photo albums "somewhere". I moved about every 6 months in my 20's, so no telling. This photo was taken with a little 110 camera. The cartridges looked like this:
And my camera was very similar to this, complete with flash bulbs...
The Astrodome is long gone - at least as far as hosting Astros games. I've been to the new park once, and while it is nice, it didn't feel "real". I didn't hear anyone hawking "The Coldest Foam in the Dome".
I guess I am lamenting since UT Baseball has ended and I'm in that lull before Football begins. Seems to get me every year, so that explains the rambling.
# posted by Lisa @ 7:56 AM 
