It was long ago

 and it was far away ,

and it was so much better

than it is today. ( Meat Loaf)

I have been looking back fondly on the glory of the sports world in the 1970's-1980's and I realize just how spoiled I was. The things i remember that were so great, that they couldn't possibly go away...and then suddenly went away. I loved baseball and watched all summer long for as long as i can remember, but i really earned my sea stripes during and after the Mets trip to the World Series in 1973.( I was lucky enough to attend game 4 of the Mets-Reds series...yep, the day AFTER the Rose-Harrelson fight) and i was devastated when my "second favorite" team, the Oakland A's ; defeated my Mets in 7.....Truth is that the prior year i listened to my older brothers drone on and on about how the more professional, and classier and simply better Big Red Machine would crush the upstart clowns in their green and gold uniforms.....i immediately fell in love with Oakland and my childhood hero was Joseph Oden Rudi...#26.

for the rest of the decade we were blessed with some of the Best National and American League Championship series.....there was something special about only 2 divisions in each league and one 5 game series to decide who goes to the World Series.....something very dreadful and sudden to be eliminated in 3 or 4 games after battling for 6 months and 162 regular season games.........bam it's over......like a Johnny Bench golf shot that just cleared the wall or a Chris Chambliss Bomb into the October Night that still hasn't come down......but the real beauty.....this thing that set baseball apart from all the others....was the 3:00 weekday start under that October cloudless sky ....the setting sun that played havoc on right fielders...the shadows from the light stanchions that creeped across the infield as the later inning approached....the blackout under the eye that every player seemed to donn.....and the green grass that survived August heat, just seemed to breath new life with every Kelly green Blade.

I remember racing home from grade school to catch the Orioles-Athletics series and listening to Tom Seaver as a guest in the booth talk about Jim Palmer.....and then chuckle as the mighty A's crushed their dreams, year after year.....I remember the story about the house behind the Center Field wall at Memorial Stadium , and how they refused to paint it Navy Blue to help the batters eye....and so the Orioles planted trees obstructing their view......i remember Rick Monday going yard to snap a tie in the 9th inning of game 5 in Montreal in 1981....a dejected Gary Carter....( surely that game would have been moved to 8:00 nowadays). I remember the Candyman (John Candeleria)  and his Pirates battling the Reds.....and of course the Yankees-Royals parts 1,2 and 3.......and that one day playoff in Fenway Park....if ever there was a 3 hour commercial for the game, something that should have been bottled up and sent to the Smithsonian to explain to future generations what Baseball was like in her prime....this was it.......I can still see Nettles settling under that Yazstremski pop up..........yes we were blessed.

I still long for those days......and i still love the baseball playoffs..although sometimes i find myself sitting in a backyard, under the brilliant fall sunshine, sipping a delicious beer , and instead of focusing on the game on TV......i'm thinking of Lenny Dykstra leaping 5 feet in the air as his HR sailed into the dugout in the bottom of the 9th vs the Astros at Olde Shea......of Bert Campaneris throwing his bat at the Tigers or Reggie breaking his leg on a play at the plate....or Stargell & the Cobra sweeping the Reds in 79, we are family.......or Rusty Staub lacing doubles off the wall and Tug Mcgraw hopping off the mound......Thurman Munson hitting a blast into monument park ....the series was tied 1-1.....bottom of the 8th.....Yanks trailing 5-4......Munson hit a mammoth blast off Doug bird ....410 feet....i had to just stop and watch the video on You Tube....you should too.....the crowd demanded a Curtain Call, he finally popped out of the dugout with his catching gear on...Reggie greeted him at home plate.......Cosell announcing ... said it was Thurman's first homer in 54 games ....the field was in complete shadow....but the left-center field bleachers were drenched in sunshine........we'll never see the likes of meaningful day baseball again.

anyway.....i bought myself a new 75 inch TV for the wall in my garagee...it is being delivered and installed tomorrow morning....the fridge is packed with beeeer and hot dogs and kielbasa will be grilled before the first pitch......and i will watch, but my mind may still be lingering in the 70's 80's....

2+3=BEEER

Holy Cow I think he's gonna make it