What was your first MLB game and best memory of it

[Chitown27Fan]

With the poll about what is the worst times you remember in Angels history it got me thinking about the first game I ever attended in person and brought back found memorys and kind of wanted to offer that up to anyone to share.

 

Mine was August 13th 1989 my parents took me to Angels stadium to see my team at the time Oakland A's and the bash brothers take on the Angels. I remember sitting on the 1 st base side of the field and cooking the whole game lol. It amazes me how many stars were in that game but the strangest memory of mine from that game is this guy in the stands would do this crazy dance every time Tony Armas of the Angels would come up pointing at his toe then his knee then his arm and finally his ass and he would get faster and faster as he did this dance lol. Its funny as hell the things that you remember after all the years lol. The Angels won the game that day but I didnt care I got to see my heros at the time play and will forever remember the exsperiance. 

Edited May 8 by Chitown27Fan
spelling cuz i suck

[jsnpritchett]

My first in-person game was July 6, 1986, Expos @ Braves.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/ATL/ATL198607060.shtml 

I was 11. I went with some people from my church after services ended that day. We got there a little late. Two things made that game memorable: 1) Andres Galarraga got hit in the head by Jeff Dedmon. The sound of the ball hitting his batting helmet was so loud we could hear it in the upper deck. I thought he was dead. Lol.  2) Bob Horner hit 4 HR in the game, but we left before his last AB. I wanted to stick around, but the people who took me to the game wanted to get home. 

[halodground]

First game I can remember attending in person was Game 2 of the 1982 playoffs against the Brewers. I was 9, just about to turn 10. The only things I can remember with any clarity are Reggie Jackson hitting a long home run to center field and getting lost trying to find my way back to our seats after going to the bathroom. We sat up in the View section near the left field foul pole, but nearly all the way up to the top.  I know I went to games before this one, but I can't remember any details.  Reggie always had a reputation of being a first class jerk.  I can attest that he was in fact a genuine dick. I've somehow randomly managed to interact with him on 3 different occasions and he was unpleasant all 3 times.

[Anthony Tendon]

My first game was a Dodgers game that the neighbors took me to in the mid 80s. Bleeder seats, the players looked like ants. I loved both So Cal teams when I was a kid, and would watch hours upon hours of baseball. This is when Angels were on channel 5 & Dodgers were on channel 11. Pisses me off that kids nowadays have to crawl through barbwire (or a bootleg stream) to watch a game.

[greginpsca]

1960 Dodgers vs Pirates at the Coliseum. Pirates win 4-2. Dodgers scored both runs on a Wally Moon moonshot over the lf screen. Pirates had 2 2-run hr's by Bob Skinner & Bill Mazeroski.

[fan_since79]

Born and raised in Philadelphia. Phillie fan from the get go. First game was in 1963 at Connie Mack Stadium and I think the opponent was the Reds, not certain though. My Dad and I took the Bridge Street "El" train, then a short bus ride to the stadium. My hero at the time, Johnny Callison, hit a drive to right that I thought was a home run. I jumped up from my seat yelling and screaming. It was a routine fly ball out. Dad told me to sit down. LOL 

[jsnpritchett]

5 minutes ago, greginpsca said:

1960 Dodgers vs Pirates at the Coliseum. Pirates win 4-2. Dodgers scored both runs on a Wally Moon moonshot over the lf screen. Pirates had 2 2-run hr's by Bob Skinner & Bill Mazeroski.

Any chance you might be merging memories of two games? I found this one from 1961 where the Pirates beat the Dodgers 4-2 on HRs from Skinner and Maz, but Moon didn't do much that game: 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN196106080.shtml

 

[BTH]

The first game I have memories of seeing live was the Kendrys Morales game. Yes, that game.

That wasn’t the first game I ever went to (It had to have been many years earlier), but it’s the earliest one I remember.

[Blarg]

Thursday June 2nd, 1966. Angels playing the Baltimore Orioles. The PA announced batting 3rd, left fielder, Rick Reichardt during the lineup and as a 7 year old I heard my name, Rick, and was an Angels fan for life.

In the game Reichardt drove in 3 runs and scored twice in a 10 inning loss. In the bottom of the 10th Reichardt reached on an error scoring the Angels last run.

So, a hell of a first game. And they lost so lowered expectations from the start. Wish I had the ticket for that game. 

[AngelsFaninGA]

https://www.espn.co.uk/mlb/boxscore/_/gameId/250608115

Attended a number of Braves games before this one but this was the first Angels game I ever attended. Was really excited to see Vlad play but that was the year Papelbon (or some other equally unlikeable Red Sox pitcher) broke his hand with a pitch. Dallas McPherson finished a homer short of the cycle. 

[Duren, Duren]

The very first game the Expos played at home in tiny Jarry Park. A group of us decided at the last minute to ditch school and we got left field bleacher seats. I posted a picture of that ticket stub the other day. Here it is again, with Bill Stoneman, John Bocabella (an early folk hero), Rusty Staub autographs. 

I've been to about a dozen or so Angel games in Anaheim the last decade and a couple in Seattle. 

[Tank]

1963 or 64, dodgers vs. reds at crosley field in cincinnati. i was 3 or 4 and my only memory of the game is sitting along the first base line in box seats my dad got from his work.

moved to socal and attended a couple of dodger games. dad said we were at koufax's perfect game in '66, but we didn't have any proof and i doubted it was true. i remember going to see the expansion expos against the dodgers in '69 and maury wills played for montreal, which seemed so wrong.

first angels game was in '71. it was a doubleheader against detroit on a tuesday or wednesday night in july. in between games the angels media played a softball game against the playboy playmates. 

[katie]

The earliest game I can remember was a Dodgers vs Braves game in the early 90s sometime (maybe late 80s?). I just remember eating a Dodger dog and a chocolate malt. I can still taste the wooden spoon. I remember there were tons of Braves fans doing the chop. I’ve also been told I was at Valenzuela’s no hitter but I don’t specifically remember that happening. 

[Halo in Chicago]

You guys have better memories than I do. I went to lots of Angels and Dodgers games starting in the early 80s. No idea which was my first. I have a lot of random memories - eating Dodger Dogs; my grandfather always asking if we were ready to leave after the 7th inning stretch; my cousins were from Austin so they would come out in the summer for Ranger/Angels games or Astros/Dodgers games. I seem to remember Reggie Jackson dropping a flyball in right field and popping up, not running it out, the ss dropping it and still throwing him out... In my head that was the same game, but who knows. Baseball games were so affordable back then so we went a lot.

[Justin]

I remember it was the Orioles. I don't remember the exact year but my guess is '89.

I grew up in the San Gabriel Valley, as did my parents. My dad was a kid when the Dodgers moved to L.A. so of course that became his team. But I chose the Angels because this was my first-ever game, and my dad didn't try to pressure me at all to be a Dodgers fan - he even bought me an Angels hat and a pin at the game. 

That's my best memory. 

[Swordsman78]

I can't remember which team the Angels played, but I do remember waiting for autographs after the game as the players came up the ramp from the clubhouse on their way to their  cars 

[Taylor]

I went to a few random games growing up, at different stadiums. The first Angel game I remember attending was in May 1998. My dad and I sat in the RF pavilion, front row right above the out of town scoreboard.

At one point I remember waving to Jim Edmonds in CF, and Edmonds waving back. Or I imagined it.

I can't remember if they won or lost that game. But I started following the team and watching every game on TV. They went 20-6 in June.

[Taylor]

1 hour ago, katie said:

The earliest game I can remember was a Dodgers vs Braves game in the early 90s sometime (maybe late 80s?). I just remember eating a Dodger dog and a chocolate malt. I can still taste the wooden spoon. I remember there were tons of Braves fans doing the chop. I’ve also been told I was at Valenzuela’s no hitter but I don’t specifically remember that happening. 

I miss chocolate malts. Those were my jam as a kid. Do they still sell them at Angel Stadium?

[Jay]

My dad wasn't a big sports fan so it was rare that he took us to ballgames when we were kids. We didn't go to many games when we were really young. We (my brother and I) had to drag my dad to the games when we got old enough to be fans. Yes, we were Dodgers fans because we grew up in L.A.

I remember going to a Dodgers game, I was maybe 7 years old. This would have been in 1967. My grandparents were in town so my dad got tickets for the guys. My brother was younger so he would have been 6. My dad was probably trying to show off how great a dad he was by taking us all to the ballgame.

We had tickets between home plate and 1st base, under the overhanging seats of the section above us. The overhang made the crowd noise extra loud when there was a base hit by the Dodgers.

The thing I remember most is my grandfather didn't like the noise.

[jsnpritchett]

54 minutes ago, Halo in Chicago said:

You guys have better memories than I do.

I actually tend to not remember much about individual games.  It just so happened that one historic thing (Horner's four homeruns) and one shocking thing (Galarraga getting beaned) happened in the first game I went to.  If it had been any other Expos/Braves game from the mid-'80s, I doubt I'd remember anything about it.  Ha. 

Without spending too much time thinking about it, the only other individual game that's crystal clear/top of mind is the Yankees @ Angels on Aug 21, 2007.  That's my birthday and it's the game in which Garret Anderson had 10 RBI--and I was there with one of my good friends who's a huge Yankees fan, so I got to mock him. 

[Farmbuildingfan]

Pete Rose coming to the plate to lead off the game at Dodger Stadium in 1968.

[T.G.]

It has always bothered me that I'm not certain of the first game I ever attended.  It might be (only because I know for certain that I was at this game) May 9, 1970 when the Angels beat the Yankees 11-3 on Bat Night.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/CAL/CAL197005090.shtml

I remember everyone in the crowd holding up their bats and it looked like a forest of bats.  I don't remember much about the game, other than Andy Messersmith was pitching.  He even hit a homerun that game.

I really believe I went to a game earlier than that, but I've never been able to figure out which one. That game in 1970 sticks out in my mind because it was bat night. 

 

[Angels 1961]

Ken Hamlin tying game with HR in extra inn and halos scoring another run to win game. Second home game in 1961. I also remember buying candy bar at store before the game and it was nickel. Those were the days halo baseball at Wrigley Field.

[greginpsca]

5 hours ago, jsnpritchett said:

Any chance you might be merging memories of two games? I found this one from 1961 where the Pirates beat the Dodgers 4-2 on HRs from Skinner and Maz, but Moon didn't do much that game: 

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN196106080.shtml

 

Only game i ever went to at the Coliseum. The year might have been off. I would have been only 7 or 8. Moon's hr was over the screen. Skinner & Maz's hr's were hit to left center. Even then i rooted against the Dog's.

[Chitown27Fan]

2 hours ago, Halo in Chicago said:

You guys have better memories than I do. I went to lots of Angels and Dodgers games starting in the early 80s. No idea which was my first. I have a lot of random memories - eating Dodger Dogs; my grandfather always asking if we were ready to leave after the 7th inning stretch; my cousins were from Austin so they would come out in the summer for Ranger/Angels games or Astros/Dodgers games. I seem to remember Reggie Jackson dropping a flyball in right field and popping up, not running it out, the ss dropping it and still throwing him out... In my head that was the same game, but who knows. Baseball games were so affordable back then so we went a lot.

I remember mine because my Dad and Mom were not real sports fans outside of racing and for them to break down and buy tickets to a game so that I could go see my hero at the time Jose Canceco "yes I know roids but i didnt even know what that was back then" was so cool and then that guys funny ass dance has been welded in my memory all these years lol