The greatest baseball experience
It was a beautiful early May night in 1996 and my Brother-In-law had tickets to the Yankee game that night and asked if I wanted to go, I hesitated and thought about getting up early the next day. He said that he would drive and if it were a boring game, we would leave early. I called my neice,( Who is a recovering Mets fan and now roots for the Yankees) and dragged her along with us.
On the drive down, I started to think about the last conversation I had with my grandfather before he passed away. We talked about a lot of things that day, but mostly we talked about baseball. I had told him that one of my dreams was to see a no-hitter. He just smiled and said “I hope you get to see one some day”.
I looked through the newspaper to see the pitching match up. Sterling Hitchcock for the Mariners and Dwight Gooden for the Yankees. That‘s when we decided that we would not stay the whole game.
As we arrived at the stadium in record time, We quickly found our seats in the first row on the second level behind first base.
The Yankees jumped out to an early lead, when I looked up at the scoreboard in the fourth inning and noticed the Mariners did not have a hit.
After the Yanks had retired the side in the fifth, the electricity really started to mount. The cheers just kept getting louder and louder, and the anticipation and nervous tension continued to climb with each pitch.
The game moved onto the 6th inning and by this time most of the 45,000 people were on their feet. The electricity was growing with each pitch with a crescendo that radiated through out the stadium. When the Yanks had retired the side in the seventh inning, my chest and stomach were vibrating from the roar of the crowd as the teams changed sides.
Ken Griffey Jr. lead off the eighth inning. Gooden struck Jr. out for the third time that night, the stands were actually rocking after that strikeout. Gooden easily retired the next two batters.
Electricity was running through my whole body as the whole stadium rose to their feet as the Yanks ran into the dugout.The Bombers didn’t score in their half of the eighth, and at the start of the ninth inning my heart was pounding as Gooden struck out the first batter! One out.The second batter flied out to left field. Two outs! I was holding my breath as the first pitch was delivered to the next batter,strike one. The crowd roared so loud it was piercing yet surreal. The next pitch was fouled off and the roar grew even louder. Strike two.When Gooden looked in for the sign from the catcher, I looked up to the sky. I envisioned the smile on my grand fathers face that day. looking back down at the field just as the ball was leaving Gooden’s hand, it flew past the hitter, he swung and missed for strike three!
Gooden was picked up by his teammates and carried off the field on their shoulders. What a great feeling it was to be a part of Yankee Stadium History. Dwight
Gooden just pitched a no-hitter and I was there to witness it. I looked up again at the sky
again and said thank you. And to think, I was going to stay home that night.
On the drive down, I started to think about the last conversation I had with my grandfather before he passed away. We talked about a lot of things that day, but mostly we talked about baseball. I had told him that one of my dreams was to see a no-hitter. He just smiled and said “I hope you get to see one some day”.
As we arrived at the stadium in record time, We quickly found our seats in the first row on the second level behind first base.
The Yankees jumped out to an early lead, when I looked up at the scoreboard in the fourth inning and noticed the Mariners did not have a hit.
The game moved onto the 6th inning and by this time most of the 45,000 people were on their feet. The electricity was growing with each pitch with a crescendo that radiated through out the stadium. When the Yanks had retired the side in the seventh inning, my chest and stomach were vibrating from the roar of the crowd as the teams changed sides.
Ken Griffey Jr. lead off the eighth inning. Gooden struck Jr. out for the third time that night, the stands were actually rocking after that strikeout. Gooden easily retired the next two batters.
Electricity was running through my whole body as the whole stadium rose to their feet as the Yanks ran into the dugout.The Bombers didn’t score in their half of the eighth, and at the start of the ninth inning my heart was pounding as Gooden struck out the first batter! One out.The second batter flied out to left field. Two outs! I was holding my breath as the first pitch was delivered to the next batter,strike one. The crowd roared so loud it was piercing yet surreal. The next pitch was fouled off and the roar grew even louder. Strike two.When Gooden looked in for the sign from the catcher, I looked up to the sky. I envisioned the smile on my grand fathers face that day. looking back down at the field just as the ball was leaving Gooden’s hand, it flew past the hitter, he swung and missed for strike three!
Gooden was picked up by his teammates and carried off the field on their shoulders. What a great feeling it was to be a part of Yankee Stadium History. Dwight
Gooden just pitched a no-hitter and I was there to witness it. I looked up again at the sky
again and said thank you. And to think, I was going to stay home that night.
