Polyester and Astroturf: Smith

Been thinking about the great baseball trip of 1992 that my friend Eric and I took, starting 33 years ago today. Previously posted, here is an epilogue recapping the trip...

What a trip it was! Looking back over the entire trip, it really is amazing the things we experienced (links included below). Over the course of those two weeks in June of 1992, we saw...

13 FUTURE HALL OF FAMERS IN ACTION:

Goose Gossage
Paul Molitor
Robin Yount
Wade Boggs (3x)
Dave Winfield (who hit a home run for us)
Eddie Murray
Cal Ripken (who hit a home run for us)
Jack Morris (who pitched like every bit the ace he was)
Harold Baines
Lee Smith
Manager Joe Torre
Manager Tony Larussa
Manager Sparky Anderson
Unfortunately, we also had some crazy bad luck when it came to seeing Hall of Famers. In our leadoff game, we missed out on seeing the greatest leadoff hitter ever, because Rickey Henderson was injured. We also missed out on a trio of Hall of Fame middle infielders, because Ozzie Smith, Alan Trammell, and Roberto Alomar were all out with injuries when we saw their teams play, as was the Indians' young third baseman, Jim Thome.

OTHER STARS:

We saw a Major League record set one night and celebrated the next, as Jeff Reardon became MLB's all-time saves king.

Phil Plantier became a favorite of mine by hitting clutch home runs for us on back-to-back days.

Having seen our favorite team, the Cardinals, play countless games at Busch Stadium, for once we got to watch them play on the road.

We visited the Baseball Hall of Fame, the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Museum, and Mickey Mantle's Restaurant, and heard a funny story dealing with a famous baseball moment.

We went to the top of the Empire State Building to take in the breathtaking New York skyline, we beheld the amazing natural beauty of Niagara Falls, and we went sailing on Lake Michigan.

We saw a softball game, played a little wiffle ball, and played A LOT of Strat-o-Matic Baseball!

We of course got to see seven ballgames in six ballparks, three of which no longer exist.

I caught a souvenir ball in batting practice.

Through it all, we logged over 3,700 miles, and Eric and I got to create shared memories that will forever seal our friendship.

Click here to see an index of posts in this series.

Click here to return to the first post in this series.

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!

Last year when the Cardinals came to Detroit, Jack had a really neat experience when he got to meet Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright and Cardinals manager Mike Shildt. What made it even better in the eleven months since is the fact that Shildt has been very intentional in staying in touch with Jack, regularly checking up on Jack's progress via text or phone. He also told Jack that if he got back to St. Louis and wanted to come to a game, to let him know and he would hook up our family with tickets.

We had a wonderful week in St. Louis, spending time with family, getting to see and touch the Stanley Cup, seeing Footloose at The Muny, going to Grant's Farm, and eating at some of our favorite restaurants, including Imo's, a dinner with the extended Scribner clan at Rich and Charlie's, a dinner at Cunetto House of Pasta on The Hill, and (count 'em!) four trips to Ted Drewes.

Our favorite ballplayer chats with our favorite manager

In Jack's estimation though, we saved the best for last, going to the Cardinals game on Friday night. Mike told us to get there by 4pm and he arranged for us to have field passes to watch the Cardinals take batting practice. While we were watching, he took time to come over and talk to Jack and the family, and was very encouraging, as he always seems to be!

As a promotional giveaway, we each received a jersey from one of the 2004 NL Champion Cardinals who were being honored over the weekend. During the game, we were able to catch up with my childhood friend, Craig Korte, as well as longtime friend of our family, Zach Smith.

As for the game itself, it was a thriller. With the Cardinals trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth, Paul Goldschmidt hit a three-run home run to put the good guys on top to stay!

We followed the game up with a late night visit to Ted Drewes. On our way back to Grandma's house, Jack commented that this was just about as close to a perfect day as possible. As his parents, and given the way the last fourteen months have gone, I'm sure you understand that this was music to our ears!

The Cardinals welcome the Scribners to the game!

Welcome to Polyester and Astroturf

I have been a sports fan in general and a baseball fan in particular for as long as I can remember. One of my most distinct early childhood memories is of my mom taking me to Busch Stadium, where we would sit in the left field bleachers and watch our favorite player, Lou Brock.

Sunday afternoon games were when they'd have the giveway games for kids such as Hat Day, Ball Day, or Bat Day (a lawsuit waiting to happen), so that's when we usually went. We would go to the 8:00 church service, make a sack lunch, and go wait for the gates to open so that we could be among the first to enter, ensuring us a front row seat.

I suppose it was these experiences that birthed my love for baseball as well as my love for baseball memorabilia. In later years, as teenagers, my friend Craig and I would spend the entire day at the stadium, getting autographs of players before and after the game. We waited for the Cardinals in the parking garage or we'd go down the street and stake out the visiting team's hotel lobby.

Over the years, I added to these mementos various souvenirs and other items. When my wife and I bought our first house, I had a room in the basement that she graciously allowed me to turn into my "sports room." In it I displayed much of the memorabilia I had collected over the years. Most of it had only sentimental value, but it was fun to relive the memories every time I entered the room.

In 2006, we moved to Flint, Michigan. Unfortunately for me, the house we purchased did not have an extra room for my stuff, and as a result, most of it has remained boxed in our basement ever since. I started this blog as a means of remembering and sharing. Remembering what I had, and remembering the events connected to those items; and sharing in this space both those items as well as my thoughts about them.

The color scheme of the blog is very intentionally patterned after the Cardinal road uniforms of the late 70s and early 80s. For some reason, baby blue was in vogue, and the color always evokes memories of this era for me. Much the same, polyester and astroturf were staples at the time, hence the title of the blog.

I hope you enjoy my trip down memory lane...I know I will. And please feel free to share your comments as well.

Polyester and Astroturf

Thursday, June 12, 2025

The Great Baseball Trip of 1992

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Take Me Out to the Ballgame!