May 27, 1978, 40 years ago today: The New York Yankees, defending World Champions of baseball, hosted the Toronto Blue Jays, a 2nd-year expansion team, at the original, but post-renovation, Yankee Stadium.
There were 56,078 people in the big ballyard in The Bronx on this nice Saturday afternoon, sunny and 66 degrees. Three of them were myself, my mother and my grandmother. Grandma was a big New York Mets fan, and before that a Brooklyn Dodger fan, who had taken Mom to Ebbets Field, home of the Dodgers, a few times. This was my 1st live sporting event, aside from schoolyard games.
They were hesitant to take me. This was the late Seventies. New York City was a mess of poverty, corruption, and, most pertinent from their point of view, crime. They would have to take me on the bus to Port Authority Bus Terminal. At the time, it was not the clean, if annoying, place it is today. It was a hole.
Then, they'd have to take me into the Subway. Port Authority was paradise compared to the Subway in the Seventies. Bums, pickpockets, muggers, perverts (not that I knew what a pervert was at the time), and all-around maniacs. And then they'd have to take me upstairs onto the streets of the South Bronx and into The Stadium. They were terrified.
But when you've got an 8-year-old kid, who's already had a rough childhood, and the only things that really matter to him are baseball and Saturday morning cartoons (which I missed due to getting ready for this game, but it was worth the sacrifice), and the Yankees are the defending World Champions, it would be cruel not to give in sooner or later.
So we went. And, I have to admit, the Subway stations and trains looked pretty foreboding. But when we came up the steps out of the 161st Street station...
Actually, I didn't see the stadium. All I could see was the elevated railway, the 4 Train. (We had taken the A Train from 42nd Street, under Port Authority, to 59th Street-Columbus Circle, and switched to the D Train.) I saw the souvenir shops on River Avenue. I saw the fans milling around. I'd never seen so many people in my life: My hometown of East Brunswick had about 40,000 people at the time, and even now, it doesn't have enough people to fill the new Yankee Stadium.
Then we crossed River Avenue, and I was able to see The Stadium for the 1st time, other than on television. As Billy Crystal said of his 1st game, in 1956, the pre-renovation Stadium, "There is was, and it ate up The Bronx!"
What did I say? "Wow."
We got in. It was Jacket Day. On Memorial Day Weekend? Yes. The jacket was vinyl, with armpit vents, dark blue with a white "Yankees" script across the chest. I don't remember how long I had it after I got it home, and I have no idea what happened to it. Maybe I can find a copy on eBay.
Mom bought me a Yearbook, and told me not to look through it until we got home. She knew I would read anything I could get my hands on, especially if it was baseball-related.
We rode the escalator to the upper deck. I remember those navy blue corridors, and would see them many times over the next 30 years. Then we came to the tunnel for Section 17, up over 1st base, and walked through, and then...
Blue. And green. The sky was blue. The seats were blue. The field was green. And the place was packed. Again, I said, "Wow." It was the most spectacular thing I had ever seen.
It's been 40 years. I have since stood on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, and at the edges of the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and Niagara Falls. That first view of Yankee Stadium is still the most spectacular thing I have ever seen.
*
Of course, there was a game. The Toronto batting order was: Rick Bosetti, center field; Bob Bailor, right field; Roy Howell, 3rd base; John Mayberry, 1st base, and Yankee Fans booed him because they remembered him playing for the Kansas City Royals against them in the last 2 American League Championship Series; Willie Upshaw, designated hitter; Tommy Hutton, left field; Dave McKay, 2nd base, later known as one of Tony LaRussa's coaches in Oakland and St. Louis; Luis Gomez, shortstop; and Alan Ashby, catcher. Their pitcher was Jim Clancy. Their manager, their 1st manager ever, was Roy Hartsfield.
For the Yankees: Mickey Rivers, center field; Willie Randolph, 2nd base; Thurman Munson, catcher Reggie Jackson, right field; Chris Chambliss, DH; Graig Nettles, 3rd base; Lou Piniella, left field; Jim Spencer, 1st base; and Bucky Dent, shortstop.
In other words, varied from the usual as follows: Chambliss and Piniella had been switched in the order, and Chambliss, nursing an injury, was DH'ing, while Spencer played 1st, and batted in the spot normally occupied by Roy White, who would DH, sometimes playing left field if Piniella was DH'ing, or if Piniella was in right while Reggie was DH'ing. Yankee Manager Billy Martin sent Puerto Rican righthander Ed Figueroa out as the starting pitcher.
The umpires were all names I would come to know well: Home plate, Vic Voltaggio; 1st base, Nestor Chylak, in the last season of a career that would make him one of the few umps elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame; 2nd base, the flamboyant Ron Luciano, whose gestures made him one of the few umpires that non-baseball fans knew; and at 3rd base, Rich Garcia, who would write his name into Yankee history in Game 1 of the 1996 ALCS.
At 2:07 PM, Voltaggio pointed at Figueroa, and said, "Play ball!" Figgy started by getting Bosetti to pop up. Then he allowed singles to Bailor and Howell, but got Mayberry to ground into a double play to end the threat.
Rivers grounded out, but Randolph stroked a drive to right field, and took 2nd base on Bailor's weak throw. Munson flew out. Then, public address announcer Bob Sheppard spoke these words: "Number forty-four, Reggie Jackson. Right field. Number forty-four."
Reggie was not known as an opposite-field hitter. This time, he did hit to the opposite field. Shortstop Gomez grabbed it, and was never going to get him out. It was an infield single. But Gomez, a 26-year-old Mexican who would last play 3 years later, with a .210 lifetime batting average and exactly zero home runs in 1,391 plate appearances, tried to throw him out anyway, and failed. Mayberry couldn't reach it. Randolph scored, and Reggie reached 2nd on the error.
It was 1-0 Yankees, and, despite the dubiousness of the opposition, the fans were deliriously happy.
But that was as good as it would get. Not that it was Figueroa's fault: He allowed only 1 hit and no walks through the next 3 innings. But in the bottom of the 4th, Reggie came to bat again, and, as he did a few times during his career, swung so hard that he pulled a calf muscle. He had to leave the game, and his at-bat was resumed by Paul Blair, who went out to right field the next inning.
Many years later, I went to a library and got the New York Times microfilm for late May 1978, and found the front page of their sports section for May 28. It had a photo of Reggie that I'd never seen before. He was screaming in pain, which we couldn't hear over the noise of The Stadium. He ended up missing 7 games with the injury.
The Jays tied the game in the top of the 5th. With 1 out, the normally spectacular-fielding Nettles mishandled a grounder by McKay. Gomez grounded into a force play. Ashby singled Gomez over to 2nd. And Bosetti singled Gomez home, before Figueroa got Bailor to pop up to end the inning.
Nettles walked to lead off the 5th, making him the 1st Yankee baserunner since Reggie in the 1st. Piniella's grounder got him to 2nd. Spencer was intentionally walked to set up the double play, but it wasn't necessary, as Dent flew out and Rivers grounded out.
Roy Howell led off the top of the 6th with a single, but was stranded. Munson singled with 1 out in the bottom of the 6th, but it was Blair now up in the cleanup spot, not Reggie, and he flew to center. Chambliss drew a walk, but Nettles flew out. Figueroa allowed singles to Gomez and Ashby in the 7th, but stranded them. Spencer walked with 1 out, but the Yankees could not score.
Figueroa walked Mayberry with 1 out in the top of the 8th, but got Upshaw and Hutton out. With 1 out in the bottom of the 8th, Munson walked, but, again, it was Paul Blair up next instead of Reggie Jackson, and he grounded into a double play.
This was a long time ago: Both starting pitchers were allowed to continue into the 9th inning. Martin had made the opposite mistake that Joe Girardi usually made: He let his starter stay in too long. The bottom of the order was coming up. Billy should have let either Albert "Sparky" Lyle, the defending Cy Young Award winner, or new acquisition Rich "Goose" Gossage come in.
Instead, he sent Figgy back out there. And Figgy was out of gas. He allowed a single to right to McKay. Gomez bunted him over to 2nd. Billy ordered Ashby walked to set up the inning-ending double play.
The Yankees were used to making comebacks, and this would intensify later in the year. They refused to go down without a fight. Chambliss led off the bottom of the 9th by flying out to center. But Nettles singled to right. So did Piniella.
That brought the tying run to the plate. It was Spencer, who had a good glove at 1st, but also had good lefthanded power. At Yankee Stadium in those days, the right field pole was 310 feet from home plate, and straightaway right just 353 feet. The Yankees had gotten him in the offseason from the Chicago White Sox, sending 2 minor leaguers and cash to Bill Veeck for Spencer and 2 other minor leaguers. Eventually, this deal would prove to be a steal, helping to secure another World Championship.
Hartsfield took Clancy out of the game, and brought Tom Murphy in to relieve. The Stadium was buzzing. People could feel the possibility of a comeback.
But it was not to be. Spencer hit it to right field, all right, but not quite far enough, and Bailor caught it. Then Billy went for broke. Dent was up next, and Billy knew that if the game were merely tied in this inning, not won, he would have to put Fred Stanley in to play short. Billy loved Stanley, known as "Chicken" (due to being skinny as a kid), because he was the same kind of player that Billy was, a scrappy, slick-fielding middle infielder. The difference was, Billy could hit a little (lifetime batting average: .257). So could Dent (.247). Stanley? No (.216).
Billy chose to either win the game here in the 9th, or to settle for having both Paul Blair and Fred Stanley in the lineup for however long the game lasted. He sent Dell Alston to pinch-hit. Alston wasn't an appreciably better choice (.238). People who call Billy Martin a managerial genius probably don't know about this game. Murphy struck Alston out.
Ballgame over. Blue Jays 4, Yankees 1. WP: Clancy (3-4). SV: Tom Murphy (3). LP: Figueroa (5-2). Time of the game: 2 hours and 27 minutes.
It was a long, slow file out of Yankee Stadium. I was sad. I did cry a little, but not until we got out.
Little did I know what was in front of me as a Yankee Fan.
*
The Yankees soon traded Alston and another top prospect, Mickey Klutts to the Oakland Athletics for Gary Thomasson. They Yanks also threw in $50,000, which probably pleased A's owner Charlie Finley more than the players, who didn't do much in Oakland, either.
Thomasson would be a key player, but not at first. The Yankees fell victim to injuries, and on July 18, fell to 4th place in the AL Eastern Division, 14 games behind the Boston Red Sox. They were still 14 games back as late as July 20.
Then they got healthy and hot, and the Sox got hurt and sloppy. The Yankees had a bench, including Thomasson and Spencer, that helped them stay a possibility. The Sox' bench was not up to the task. On September 7, the Yankees went into Boston for a 4-game series, 4 games out, and swept the series, outscoring them 42-9.
The Yankees eventually got to 3 1/2 games ahead of the Sox, and then it turned the other way again. Figueroa, not particularly affected by his May 27 loss, beat the Cleveland Indians on September 29, becoming the 1st pitcher from Puerto Rico to win 20 games in a season. He remains the only one. But the Yankees lost the regular season finale the next day, and the Sox won 10 of their last 12, including their last 8, to tie the Yankees for the Division title.
A 1-game Playoff was held at Fenway Park on October 2, and, well, if you read this blog regularly, or if you know Yankee history at all, you know what happened. Bucky Blessed Dent happened. The whole Yankee team happened. As a Boston sportswriter put it, "Destiny 5, Red Sox 4."
The Yankees would beat the Royals for their 3rd straight Pennant, and the Los Angeles Dodgers for their 2nd straight World Championship, their 22nd overall.
The parade float containing the Yankee coaches,
including (L to R) Elston Howard, Gene Michael and Yogi Berra.
And I loved it. It remains my favorite Yankee season, ahead of 1996, 1998, and 2009. If the Yankees win it all again, the season in which they do it will still not exceed 1978.
Still, it bothers me that they lost my 1st game. It also bothers me that, due to my mother's cheapness and fear of letting her little boy loose in New York City, I didn't walk through a Yankee Stadium (or any other professional baseball) turnstile again until August 4, 1985. I didn't see the Yankees without my parents' permission (or money) until turning 18, and didn't see them win until June 11, 1988; and didn't see them beat Toronto (except on television) until August 2, 1999.
Until that night, the Yankees were 0-5 against the Blue Jays with me in the house. This is why I call them "the pesky Blue Jays": No matter whether the Jays are good or bad, they always seem to give the Yankees trouble.
On July 20, 2008, a little more than 30 years after my 1st game at the old Yankee Stadium, I saw my last. I was on the same section, Section 17 in the upper deck. This time, the Yankees won, beating the A's 2-1. Jason Gianni homered against his old team in the 6th, to back up the pitching of Andy Pettitte.
By that point, Rick Bosetti was Mayor of his hometown of Redding. He is now 64 years old, and the head baseball coach at Simpson University, an NAIA school in his hometown.
Today, on the 40th Anniversary of my 1st live Major League Baseball game, I will -- in defiance of my current back injury -- go to the new Yankee Stadium. I already have my ticket. Weather permitting -- it looks like it will rain in the morning, but it should stop by gametime and hold off for the duration -- I will see the Yankees play the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
It will not be the same, for many reasons. Certainly, I will not say, "Wow." I like the new Stadium, but I am not in awe of it.
But there is one change I definitely want on this anniversary: A Yankee win.