I Think I Owe Mom an Apology

In looking through some "This Date in Baseball History" tweets, I was reminded of a doubleheader that I went to on July 7th, 1987. It was a reminder of what a great mom I have, and of how much she contributed to my baseball fandom as a kid.

I was 15 at the time, and my friend, Craig, and I attended a bunch of games (~20) together that summer. Our ordinary practice was to have one of our parents drop us off at the stadium, and then a different parent would pick us up afterward. Often we would try to get autographs from players after the games, so we would call on a pay phone (in those pre-cell phone days) when we were ready to get picked up.

The Cardinals and Dodgers were scheduled to play four games in three days July 6th-8th, but they were rained out on Monday the 6th. Because it was the last time the Dodgers were scheduled to come to St. Louis, it was imperative that they get the four games in on the 7th & 8th, so they had to play back-to-back doubleheaders. Making matters even worse was the fact that it continued to rain on the 7th. Game one was scheduled to start at 5:35pm, but it was delayed until nearly 8:00, and even then began with the rain still falling!  

The Cardinals won the first game 5-4 as southpaw reliever Rick Horton (making his first of six starts that season) kept the Cards in the game with his mound work, and also contributed the first extra-base hit of his career. After 5.1 innings pitched, he turned things over to fellow lefty Ken Dayley, and ultimately Todd Worrell, who was the pitcher of record when the Redbirds scored an unearned run to take the lead in the 7th that they would never relinquish.

This is where the story gets interesting. By the time the second game started, it was already after 11pm. Since we didn't have cell phones back then, my mom (who was going to pick us up) had no way to reach us. And since I was a 15-year old boy who was intent on watching another baseball game, I didn't take the initiative to call her.

The game ended up being a thriller, featuring a 9th inning game-tying two-run homer from Cardinals catcher Steve Lake, followed by a 10th inning game-winning single from Jack Clark at 3am sharp.I don't remember exactly what my mom said when I called home, but I do remember that she was (quite understandably) not at all happy. Regardless, she did come and get us, which was probably more than we deserved.

The Cardinals and Dodgers played two more the next night (or later THAT night, to be more precise), with the Redbirds again taking both games, including taking the nightcap again in walkoff fashion. That gave the Cardinals four wins in 28 hours, and ran their winning streak to seven games. It would also be the first of three straight walkoff wins.

While the Cardinals were flying high, the Dodgers had to wearily fly to Chicago, where they had a Thursday AFTERNOON game They would fall behind early 6-0, on their way to a 12-5 loss. So all told, LA played (and lost) five full games in two different cities over a 48 hour span! As tough as that was for the Dodgers, at least they were getting paid for their efforts. Moms getting called at 3am to come pick up their sons are not so well remunerated. Even though they should be.

Sorry, mom.