A Kid in the 80's

 Tom “Thumbs” Hoepfner

When you hear people reflect on their first game, there are typically common themes.  The lush green grass, the perfectly chalked foul lines, the charm and uniqueness of the ballpark and seeing your heroes up close are memories often quoted.  However, what if your first ballpark experience was at one of the “cookie-cutter” stadiums that dominated the landscape in the 1970s and 1980s?

The setting for my first game was Veterans Stadium for a June 3, 1984 tilt between the defending NL Champion Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs.  The Phillies were no longer the “Wheeze Kids”, with Pete Rose going to Montreal, Joe Morgan in Oakland and Tony Perez back in Cincinnati.  The trio was replaced by Juan Samuel, John Wockenfuss and Len Matuszek.  Since I was 6 years old at the time and had seen the Phillies in the World Series, I assumed it would be a foregone conclusion that the Phillies would win.

At the time you could park for free on the side streets and walk to the stadium, so that is just what my Dad and I did.  As we entered the massive concrete ballpark, we were rewarded with an M.A.B. painter's cap, which was a white floppy hat that had the Phillies logo on top.  Armed with our new hats, we trudged our way to the 600 level and settled in to watch the game.  My dad had told me that both teams were playing well, but the Cubs usually fell apart during the summer months.  

 

1980's Phillies M.A.B. Style Painters Cap

This day, however, belonged to the Cubs.  Since my recollection of the particulars is not so strong, I consulted MLB.com to review the game.  Some highlights include the first home run I saw in person, hit by the aforementioned Wockenfuss for the Phillies only runs of the game.  It was a 3-2 Cubs lead going into the 8th when we suffered through a Bill Campbell relief outing for the Phillies that included 6 walks in just ⅔ of an inning.  The Cubs won going away 11-2.

Ryne Sandberg

On the ride home, I took of my Phillies hat and told my dad that from now on I am going to root for the Cubs.  He laughed, but had the perfect response.  He informed me that the Cubs were the only team that played in a stadium without lights and that every home game was a day game and that we got the station (WGN) that broadcasts all the Cub games.  After that I would rush home from school to catch the Cubs game (usually in the 5th or 6th inning by the time I got home) on TV.  1984 turned out to be a bittersweet year as the Cubs led by Ryne Sandberg and Rick Sutcliffe won the NL East and made the playoffs for the first time since 1945.  Unfortunately, they lost to the Padres in the last best of 5 NLCS, 3 games to 2.  40 plus years of being a Cubs fan, just from that one game!