For every ticket stub there is a memory

For some reason I attempt to save the ticket stub to every game I attend. I’m not really sure why. I guess it authenticates that yes, I was there on that night. And someone would probably ask; in case something special happens? And I’d probably feel inside that well, something special happens in every big league ballgame. It’s what you see and interpret. It’s the small moment or connection you make that makes it special. It doesn’t have to be a no-hitter or walk off job. It can be a song played after the 8th inning while the pitcher is warming up.

So here’s a few ticket stubs I’ve saved. And when people ask me why I’ve got so many I say someday I’m going to make some kind of collage with them, even though I know myself and I’m much too lazy for that.

So this game, I remember Austin Kearns crashed into the wall out in right field at the Jake and was really never the same in a Reds uniform. I know everyone points to the Ray King moment with Kearns but believe me, this was an ugly collision. We were sitting VERY high up at Jacobs Field, seemed like one of the highest seats I’ve ever sat in in a baseball stadium although it wasn’t. It looked steep. Dunn had a great at-bat with a pinch hit double off Danys Baez in the top of the 9th with two outs and the Reds scratched across the tying and winning runs right there.

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For being a game I sat in the Diamond Seats, some of the finest seats in baseball, I remember very little about this game. Reds sent the fans home happy and it looks like Sean Casey had a couple of knocks and 3 RBI. I do remember Brandon Claussen being lousy on the day despite not giving up any runs. I remember seeing Kearns double down the line in left to get the Reds on the board.

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This was a fun game. It was the second game of Brucemania and Cincinnati was going wild. It’s where the phrase “Bruce Traffic” was coined. My girlfriend and best friend Tyler couldn’t go to Bruce’s debut with me so they agreed to go the night after. We drank some beers in the parking garage before the game and entered the game with a really good buzz. Jay Bruce got on base a few times and doubled. Bunny Arroya had his stuff going stong that night against the Buccos.

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This was the first time I took my girlfriend to Jacobs Field in Cleveland for a game. We went up with my friend Justin and his wife. The Indians started that season red hot. Their whole lineup was over .300 the first few weeks of the season. I remember them hitting Scott Baker hard (we talked to him for a while before the game) and I remember Grady getting a few knocks. And Hafner was still crushing back then, as he ripped a homer. It was a very cold spring day and my girlfriend bought some Indians stuff at the team shop just to stay warm, including an extra pair of sox.

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This game I remember very well. One of the more entertaining ballgames I’ve ever seen, and it just so happens I was in the Diamond Seats for it. This was my first Diamond Seat game and I was there for my highschool girlfriend’s birthday. I got Austin Kearns to sign her a baseball; and it ended up going home with me. Adam Dunn hit one out of Great American that night it cleared the bullpen out in right field. The bat boy gave me a dip of his Copenhagen for just shooting the shit with him. Jason LaRue hit a 3 run bomb to win the game in the bottom of the 9th and the stadium exploded. You could almost have known it was going to happen as the Reds simply wouldn’t die.

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The last two opening days which I’ve talked a lot about. 2007 & 2008.

This was a special night. This was the first ballgame ever played at Great American Ball Park. So all those posters in offices around the Cincinnati tri-state area of “first pitch” yeah I’m speck in those. I remember late in the game Griffey got bent out of shape because he got brushed back up top near his head. I also remember entering the game we were left tickets by my uncle at will call that were for the next night. I had a bunch of college buddies with me and I was panicking. There was an old couple nice enough that heard us freaking out about it at the gates
and let us have three of their tickets.

This was a humid night, and although it only says it registered at 79 degrees it was so muggy and dry that I remember my entire family wanted to leave early, only staying because I told them I couldn’t leave early and I wouldn’t allow it. I remember a young Andruw Jones having a nice game. This was my first extra innings ballgame but it was short lived as the Reds lost the game immediately in the 10th inning.

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