I'm with Campion on this. Honor goes out the window when chasing a baseball and like he said kids do heal very quickly.
Now my baseball story. Wow, I'm glad there was no cell phone cameras back then. Here goes.
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My baseball story:
A long time ago I and future wife made a trip to the Big Apple for a visit and to catch a Yankees game. So we hopped on the “D” train for a trip north to the Bronx and The House That Ruth Built. We didn’t buy tickets in advance so we headed for the ticket booth when I was approached by a scalper with him remarking “Do you want to buy some really good tickets?” I replied” Yes, what do you have?” and he told me he had 2 tickets that were 2 rows right behind the Yankees dugout. I was skeptical so he showed me the tickets and a seating map and they looked like the real deal. I asked the price and it sounded reasonable so I was set to purchase when my girlfriend said “I’ll get hit by a ball!” I assured her that you won’t get hit by a ball so the cash purchase was made.
Into the stadium we went and headed for our seating area and a stadium usher led us to our seats. One small problem though, the usher stopped at the 4th row behind the Yankees dugout. The scalper lied? Anyway, they were great seats and without a doubt the best I’ve ever had at any ballpark. It was also apparent I wasn’t going to get a refund from my scalper so we made some drinks purchases and settled in to soon watch a ballgame between the Yankees and the visiting KC Royals. Right in front of us some Yankees came out of the dugout and warmed up by playing catch. An unruly fan started to get on a newly acquired Yankee. It was Ruppert Jones and the fan(atic) went way to far and Ruppert to his credit just brushed it off. Fiery tempered Lou Piniella didn’t and started giving it back to the fan. It was a 2fer, a ballgame and a show, I loved it. Stadium security led the fan away with him declaring his constitutional rights were being severely dampened and Lou Piniella gave the fan a parting shot of “hey buddy, why don’t you just go home and beat your wife!” If the game is half as good as what we just witnessed I'm very happy.
Then something happened. While the show was going on unknown to me the Royals had taken the field for some late infield practice. I had just taken a drink when I was hit in the nose and eye with a stray ball from the infield practice. I really didn’t know what hit me and to this day it was the hardest hit I’ve ever received. I entered Muhammad Ali’s dreaded never never land when he was doing his rope-a-dope. I was seeing stars, but I heard voices saying he just got hit by a ball. In my stupor I was thinking “so it was a baseball, I thought it was a freight train”. So I had stadium personnel rushing to check on me and I'm trying to be real macho I foolishly told them I was OK. There was blood gushing from my nose, yeah I was a mess so off we went to the park’s medical dispensary. I was checked out and was told my nose was broken and to seek more medical attention when I got home. I was sore , but OK kind of and back we went to watch the game.
So the game is ready to start and the national anthem is played with me not holding my ballcap over my heart because I’m holding an ice pack over my nose instead. Oh well, I suppose it could be worse I guess? In the second inning the same usher who had shown us our seats came to me and said “Hey, let me see your tickets?” Oh oh, isn’t this just great I have counterfeit or stolen tickets and just had my nose broken and now I’m going to be led away and booted from the stadium. This really sucks!! The usher looks at my tickets and says “Hey buddy, you’re in the wrong seats. You should be 2 rows closer.” I felt like slapping the usher because if we would have been shown the right seats in the first place I wouldn’t have a broken nose! Damn!!
I made a promise to my girlfriend she would not get hit by a ball and I saw that she wasn’t. I keep my promises.
I didn’t get the ball. I was told it bounced off me and went several rows behind me. A fan luckier than me got it.
I think the ball must have come from the second base area. I’m betting Frank White threw it. To this day I despise him. lol
When I got home I went to my doctor and he confirmed my nose was broken. For several weeks after you could literally see the ball’s stitching in my face.
A few weeks later I received 4 free tickets from the New York Yankees.
The End
Now my baseball story. Wow, I'm glad there was no cell phone cameras back then. Here goes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My baseball story:
A long time ago I and future wife made a trip to the Big Apple for a visit and to catch a Yankees game. So we hopped on the “D” train for a trip north to the Bronx and The House That Ruth Built. We didn’t buy tickets in advance so we headed for the ticket booth when I was approached by a scalper with him remarking “Do you want to buy some really good tickets?” I replied” Yes, what do you have?” and he told me he had 2 tickets that were 2 rows right behind the Yankees dugout. I was skeptical so he showed me the tickets and a seating map and they looked like the real deal. I asked the price and it sounded reasonable so I was set to purchase when my girlfriend said “I’ll get hit by a ball!” I assured her that you won’t get hit by a ball so the cash purchase was made.
Into the stadium we went and headed for our seating area and a stadium usher led us to our seats. One small problem though, the usher stopped at the 4th row behind the Yankees dugout. The scalper lied? Anyway, they were great seats and without a doubt the best I’ve ever had at any ballpark. It was also apparent I wasn’t going to get a refund from my scalper so we made some drinks purchases and settled in to soon watch a ballgame between the Yankees and the visiting KC Royals. Right in front of us some Yankees came out of the dugout and warmed up by playing catch. An unruly fan started to get on a newly acquired Yankee. It was Ruppert Jones and the fan(atic) went way to far and Ruppert to his credit just brushed it off. Fiery tempered Lou Piniella didn’t and started giving it back to the fan. It was a 2fer, a ballgame and a show, I loved it. Stadium security led the fan away with him declaring his constitutional rights were being severely dampened and Lou Piniella gave the fan a parting shot of “hey buddy, why don’t you just go home and beat your wife!” If the game is half as good as what we just witnessed I'm very happy.
Then something happened. While the show was going on unknown to me the Royals had taken the field for some late infield practice. I had just taken a drink when I was hit in the nose and eye with a stray ball from the infield practice. I really didn’t know what hit me and to this day it was the hardest hit I’ve ever received. I entered Muhammad Ali’s dreaded never never land when he was doing his rope-a-dope. I was seeing stars, but I heard voices saying he just got hit by a ball. In my stupor I was thinking “so it was a baseball, I thought it was a freight train”. So I had stadium personnel rushing to check on me and I'm trying to be real macho I foolishly told them I was OK. There was blood gushing from my nose, yeah I was a mess so off we went to the park’s medical dispensary. I was checked out and was told my nose was broken and to seek more medical attention when I got home. I was sore , but OK kind of and back we went to watch the game.
So the game is ready to start and the national anthem is played with me not holding my ballcap over my heart because I’m holding an ice pack over my nose instead. Oh well, I suppose it could be worse I guess? In the second inning the same usher who had shown us our seats came to me and said “Hey, let me see your tickets?” Oh oh, isn’t this just great I have counterfeit or stolen tickets and just had my nose broken and now I’m going to be led away and booted from the stadium. This really sucks!! The usher looks at my tickets and says “Hey buddy, you’re in the wrong seats. You should be 2 rows closer.” I felt like slapping the usher because if we would have been shown the right seats in the first place I wouldn’t have a broken nose! Damn!!
I made a promise to my girlfriend she would not get hit by a ball and I saw that she wasn’t. I keep my promises.
I didn’t get the ball. I was told it bounced off me and went several rows behind me. A fan luckier than me got it.
I think the ball must have come from the second base area. I’m betting Frank White threw it. To this day I despise him. lol
When I got home I went to my doctor and he confirmed my nose was broken. For several weeks after you could literally see the ball’s stitching in my face.
A few weeks later I received 4 free tickets from the New York Yankees.
The End
