FanPost

Ripken ties the record

My sister's title company used to get season tickets to give away to clients in the days before the O's went south and you may has well given those clients a pot of dead plants as a matinee day game started by Travis Driskill.

My family members were always football fans primarily and I didn't fully realize until about a week beforehand that she had tickets to 2130. She came through and said it would be fun (later she was extremely grateful for getting me to hold the tickets for what proved to be a memorable and historical event). For one day in high school, I was the envy of everybody.

The game itself was far better than 2131, although Cal did not run the length of the stadium. He did hit a home run, one of five hit in that game, four of which were hit back to back if I remember correctly. I was never fully convinced that the starting pitcher (which, with the help of baseball-reference.com I can tell you was Brian Anderson and with which I can also tell you that it was 89 degrees and there was a 3 mph wind from an "unknown direction" at game time) didn't just give up a home run for the fun of it in an 8-0 blowout. Then again, maybe there's a reason why I don't remember his name.

I do not remember a time before or since when I have seen the yard so packed by ORIOLES fans. Now when it gets busy, it's usually a bunch of Red Sox numbnuts telling you how you're going to eventually die. Nor do I remember any event, other than Obama's first inauguration, at which so many people were all cheering so loudly for the same thing. It made me cry.

For many years, I regretted that a real baseball fan wasn't there to take my place. But I learned a lot that night (e.g., that after 5 innings a game is considered complete, though for some reason I remember that being announced and appearing onscreen in the middle of the fifth). Since then, I continue to be a football fan, but football is doomed. And as baseball (and O's baseball in particular) becomes more relevant, Ripken's game-tying game takes on more meaning personally. It is the best memory I have of the sport that has since then begun to rule my life.


FanPosts are user-created content and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors of Camden Chat or SB Nation. They might, though.