In the late-80s to mid-90s I had three sports heroes. 1st baseman for the Phillies, Von Hayes, 3rd baseman for the Phillies (an incredibly classy guy and probably the greatest 3rd baseman EVER), Mike Schmidt, and catcher for the Phillies Darren Daulton. Mike Schmidt is probably my favorite baseball player of all time despite my current man-crush (and inspiration for my youngest son's name) second baseman Chase Utley.
The peak of Daulton's career was 1990-1994 and he was pivotal to the Phillies' run to the World Series in 1993. I can still name most of the players from that team that lost the Series in dramatic fashion to the Blue Jays. I can still see in my head the homerun blast to left field hit by Toronto great Joe Carter that ended the game and the Series. Mitch Williams was the inconsistent Phils' pitch who threw the fateful pitch. I was devastated. I was only 16.
Well Darren Daulton was inducted into the Philadelphia Phillies hall-of-fame over the weekend and I realize how strange it is to see the baseball greats from my youth getting inducted into halls-of-fame or go on to become coaches/managers. For the record, Daulton wasn't great enough to be enshrined in Cooperstown but he meant a whole lot to the Phillies. By the late 90s, his knees had begun to crap out (as they do most catchers) and he moved on to play for the Florida Marlins. He even won a World Series with them in 1997. I'm getting older I suppose and seeing Darren Daulton honored in Philly brings back memories of 1993. 1993 was a gem of a year for a young Phillies fan. Kids today are growing up at a time when the Phillies are a very successful organization. When their lineup is peppered with superstars. They've been to two consecutive World Series, having won one of them. It's exciting. But when I was a kid the Phillies were a joke. Their stadium was the laughing stock of the league, their fans were awful, and the team was very poor. So 1993 was one moment of glory for me. Then came 2008. The Phillies had been improving year-by-year between 2005 and 2007 so that by 2008 expectations were huge. And they delivered with a World Series championship. It felt like 1993 all over again to me and I remembered those old days. Yes, baseball is inextricably connected to memories of my youth and it's got a way of making me feel how quickly the years fly. Long live the great game of baseball! And long live the memory of Darren Daulton even if he is a freak who can't "remember" to pay speeding tickets and he believes that he has "skipped through time" and that he will someday "blast into space."
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Dude, I am not a baseball fan, but good for your hero. Actually I went over to Kevin's house on Sunday and we watched some ball together.
ReplyDeleteI on the other hand am good to go for life. Superman died once, but not really. He's immortal; kind of ;)
Wow. I'm impressed that somebody actually read my blog post. I have a feeling that when I write about baseball nobody pays attention. Maybe I need to choose my friends and acquaintances more wisely, choosing people who appreciate baseball. After all, if we don't love baseball then the terrorists have won.
ReplyDeleteKevin is DIE-HARD for baseball. It's awesome. He knows more about baseball than anybody else that I have personally met.
I tuned out when I noticed I got cheated into reading a sports post instead of a political one. :)
ReplyDeleteFran
It's not REALLY a sports post. It's more about how times flies and how the triumphs of childhood are so fleeting. I only baseball as a means to come to that end.
ReplyDeleteI always read your baseball posts.
ReplyDeleteSo why do you got to hate on my blog?
Don't act like you care about my baseball blog posts because as soon as I start to speak vocally about baseball you may as well be on another planet for as much attention as you pay to what I have to say.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm not hating on your blog. I'm simply questioning why, in your title, you appear to feel some affection for Buckeyes. During out nearly 6 years there you hated Buckeyes. I think the idea of your blog is great because we are true food lovers and the Clines do not hold a monopoly on great recipes.
I guess under my current circumstances, it seems odd to respond to a post about anything, let alone baseball. But 1993 was a glory year for more reasons than one.
ReplyDeleteI, too, remember that homerun blast that sent a cloud of darkness over the Cline home. But I also remember getting a very magical letter in the mail that year. A letter which would profoundly change my life. I also remember finally winning the recognition I deserved from all of my classmates when I was awarded the Bonnie Vogel Memorial Art Award (and the accompanying check for $100) at graduation. I remember going on my first real date. I remember going on my second real date, too, which happened to also be my last date until after my mission. I remember really coming into my own as an individual. Then, one year later, everything was blasted to pieces.
Everyone who can relate to Troy's post needs to spend some time with Bruce Springsteen's classic song Glory Days.
1993 was also the year Jurassic Park was released. Now you feel REALLY old don't you. Can you believe that Jurassic Park is 17 years old?
ReplyDeleteI LOVED that movie. The two sequels were a disgrace. Utter waste. But that first movie was really, really cool to me in '93.
Glad to see you're still posting Johnny. One day at a time bro.
I just looked up old MLB standings to make sure my story was right. And it was. 1993 was a diamond among many rough years for the Phillies.
ReplyDeleteFrom 1984 to 1992 the Phils never finished above 4th in their division. They weren't horrible in 1986 but the Mets won 108 games that year so even second place with a record of 86-75 put them 21.5 games back!! Then there was the awesome 1993 season followed by 1994, a strike-shortened season where the Phillies were a distant third when the season was cut off. From 1995 until 2000 the Phils were either in third or last. Then they were mediocre until 2005 when they started to make their improvements.
Can you see how much I love baseball?