Opening Day 1988 (Found in My Basement)

Since today is opening day for most of Major League Baseball, I thought now would be the perfect time to share this 1988 Pittsburgh Pirates Official Magazine and Scorecard from the Pirates home opener against the Philadelphia Phillies that I attended on April 11, 1988.

Why yes that is 1987 National League Rookie Pitcher-of-the-Year Mike Dunne on the cover.

The Pirates starting line-up on this day was:

LF Barry Bonds
2B Jose Lind
CF Andy Van Slyke
3B Bobby Bonilla
1B Sid Bream
RF R.J. Reynolds
C Mike LaValliere
SS Al Pedrique
P Doug Drabek

While Bonds hit a home run and the Pirates won, what I remember most about the game (box score here) was the incredible performance by the legendary Vicente Palacios. In the top of the 6th, the Phillies loaded the bases with no outs against Drabek. Jim Leyland brought in Palacios who retired the next three batters without allowing a run. Three Rivers Stadium was rocking!

Now, the fun part. Check out some of the pictures and ads from the scorebook.

I wish I owned that Starter jacket.

I really liked John Saunders.

A car phone for less than $20 a month? What a deal!

I'm pretty sure I have the exact same sweater today that Mike Diaz wore more than 15 years ago.

Are Quinn and Banana selling popcorn at PNC Park today? (Sorry, that was mean. I spent many, many mornings listening to B-94 and regularly tried to win cases of pop on Thirsty Thursdays.)

Let's Go Bucs!

The Sid Bream Curse?

It was time. I’ve managed to avoid one of the most painful moments of my life for the past 18+ years, but it was time to relive game seven of the 1992 National League Championship Series between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Atlanta Braves. The MLB Network created a weekly show counting down the top 50 baseball games of the past 50 years. The Pirates-Braves match-up was #4 on the list.

Instead of airing the entire game, MLB Network showed all the significant moments of the game interspersed with comments from Bob Costas, a guy named Tom (I have no idea of his last name or who he is) and studio guests Andy Van Slyke, Sid Bream and Mark Lemke. I couldn’t have handled watching the entire game start to finish, so I applaud MLB Network for showing the game in this format. Anyway, I truly managed to block out much of this game that took place during my high school senior year, so I thought I would share some thoughts from watching the game again for the first time.

During the telecast, Sid Bream mentioned that some people tell him that the lack the Pirates’ success since the 1992 season is a result of the Bream Curse. I think Sid is making this up. (Seriously, has anyone heard of this Bream Curse?)

What a pitching match-up between Doug Drabek and John Smoltz. I loved Drabek.



Meanwhile, I don’t think John Smoltz has aged. He looked the same in 1992 than he did when he retired a few years ago. Well, at least when he wears a hat.

Things I still hate today: The Tomahawk Chop & Mark Lemke. The chop is just a rip-off from Florida State. As for Lemke, he was annoying as a player and useless on the broadcast. I would have rather heard Francisco Cabrera talk about the hit or David Justice discuss the game while throwing in some commentary about his relationship with Halle Berry.

Wow! Andy Van Slyke really hates Barry Bonds. You would think there would have been some type of reconciliation over the years, but not in this case.

Van Slyke also remains upset about some missed ball-strike calls by the home plate umpire. It’s not much consolation, but at least the Braves also got screwed by bad umpire strike zone recognition several years later in the Livan Hernandez-15 strikeout game.

As a sports fan still bitter about this game, I’m glad that Andy Van Slyke, someone who participated in the game, is still upset about the result as well. For some reason this is comforting that the players care as much or more than the fans. I don’t expect that in most cases, but it seems necessary for this particular game.

Can someone answer this question: why exactly was Francisco Cabrera on the Braves playoff roster?

Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox retired at the end last season as one of the winningest managers in baseball history. However, let's play the hypothetical game. Let's say that Barry Bonds threw out Sid Bream at home and the Pirates won the game in extra innings. Cox would have been destroyed in the press and by fans for not using a pinch-runner for Bream and rightfully so. I feel like that could have been Cox's legacy.

I'm shocked (SHOCKED!) that the MLB Network didn't show the Braves' postgame celebration featuring Deion Sanders and Tim McCarver. I couldn't turn away from or turn off the TV 18+ years ago, so I clearly remember watching Sanders stalking McCarver throughout the Braves locker room. This was the end result.



Rod Woodson > Deion Sanders

Now that I watched the special, I’m happy not to see this game again for another 18+ years.

Friday Links (Please Buy My Hockey Tickets)

Despite posting an ad on StubHub and Ottawa’s Craigslist, I continue to be unable to sell my tickets for next Monday’s (December 8) Ottawa Senators-Florida Panthers game. Amazingly, trying to sell the tickets through my blog hasn’t worked either. However, I finally found a reason for people to attend the game: you can see Florida’s David Booth, who wants to go on a grizzly bear hunt. Just don’t read this story since the tickets are in the upper deck.

On to the links:

Five Questions with D.C. Steeler Nation and Cowboy Nation. Christmas Ape is clearly the winner.

Remember the song/commencement address reminding you to wear sunscreen? Blog ‘N Gold created a Bill Cowher version for his commencement address at North Carolina State.

Mystery Man (of Tidbits and the Angry Consumer) writes that the leaf blower is the dumbest invention ever. Take that, singing fish!



This is Getting Old thinks the Pirates should sign Barry Bonds. Hmmm.

The Pensblog looks back at the dark ages of the Pittsburgh Penguins: 2001-2006.

Any other soccer referees out there? If so, check out this video (in the middle of the page) from a game that took place in Greece. (I have no idea what the language is on this website.) A player tripped a guy who ran on the field, and for his action, earned a red card. There seems to be some debate about this in the referee community. The reason for the red card is "violent conduct" since the player deliberately kicked the pitch invader during the match and it was unprovoked violence. Players cannot take such violent action like this during a match against anyone (even if the action is egregious as invading the pitch) and not expect to have the maximum disciplinary sanctions imposed by the referee. On one hand, I agree with this decision. However, seeing this picture of James Harrison tackling the Cleveland Browns fan who ran on to the field always makes me smile.



(Yes, writing about the incident in Greece was partially an excuse to post the Harrison picture again.)

Finally, you may have noticed the banner ad on the top right of this page. Since someone was nice enough to actually pay for an ad (yes, really), please click on the ad or visit Sportsinfo.com. Pretty please!