Aisle 140
Box J
Seat 2
APR. 12, 1991
FRI., 7:35 PM
Royals Vs. Yankees
I have the worst memory ever, and there are only three things I distinctly recall:
1) Don Mattingly at first base. He was my favorite player then and I made it a point to find him. Unfortunately we were so far down the right-field line that I needed binoculars to see him manning first base.2) Lee Guetterman on the mound. I knew he was tall (his stupid 1990 Topps baseball card appeared in every other pack I opened, and due to overexposure or osmosis or whatever I eventually memorized all of his statistics), but his height was even more appreciable when he stood on the mound towering above all of his teammates.
3) So many people ran on the field that night. For a long time afterwards I thought this was what fans normally did at Major League baseball games. Security took care of most of the drunken fools, but one guy who was sitting immediately in front of me hopped the fence, ran across the entire outfield, and lept back into the left-field line seats. Although I'm sure he was apprehended on the other side, I had never seen anybody before or since clear the entire field without getting caught.
Thanks to baseball-reference.com, the greatest website in the history of time, I've now got the long-forgotten details of that particular game.
Things to note:
- This was back when the Royals were better than the Yankees. New York finished 1991 with a record of 71-91, while Kansas City topped the .500 mark with a 82-80 record. It's amazing what can happen in sixteen years.
- Starting pitchers were Storm Davis for KC and Chuck Cary for NY. I have absolutely no recollection of Chuck Cary whatsoever, either in baseball card form or in SEEING HIM WITH MY EYEBALLS form. He allowed 8 runs in 3 1/3 innings, which probably explains how he's so forgettable.
- Batting first and second for the Yankees... Steve Sax and Don Mattingly. Next year both would appear on the best Simpsons episode ever.
- Batting clean-up for the Yankees... Kevin Maas! He hit the only triple of his big-league career in this game.
- Batting fifth for the Yankees... Hensley "Bam-Bam" Meulens! This line-up is absolutely amazing in an over-hyped sort of way.
As for the Royals:
- George Brett. I don't know how I managed to forget about George Brett, but he was playing first base this game.
- Danny Tartabull dang near hit for the cycle. He went 3 for 5 with a single, double, and a triple.
- "Now pinch hitting for Kevin Seitzer-- Bill Pecota"
- Kirk Gibson, in his 17 years of baseball, played one season for KC. Guess who the DH was?
Royals won, 9 to 5. Not a terribly remarkable game, and I bet 90% of the people there couldn't recall the game today (and even I am just barely able to), but it was a special one for me and I'll hang on to this stub for as long as I can. At least until somebody steals my wallet.
