Retracing my steps – Going for the solo (home run) drive

In last week's column I told you about my first two major league baseball stadium experiences. This week I will highlight No.'s 3 and 4 and they are iconic parks. With still no idea that I would ever visit over 50 major league stadiums, getting to Fenway Park and Yankee Stadium should be on every baseball fans bucket list. It was certainly on mine.My first two stadiums came during my childhood. By 1977 I was a full fledged adult, though as you read this, one can debate my level of maturity. Thinking that I would just jump in my 1972 Javelin and head east by myself to see these revered stadiums would be a start to questioning my sanity. Not even knowing if the Red Sox and Yankees were at home when I came calling would be another.But I was five years removed from college and I was looking for an adventure. So I planned a trip that would include five stops. My first destination was Buffalo, New York where I would spend a couple of days with Bruce Neubeck, my former college roommate. From there I would travel across the state to a picturesque little town called Cooperstown.Every baseball fan knows what is located there. The National Baseball Hall of Fame calls Cooperstown home. This would be my first of several trips to the location. Each succeeding visit brought more smiles as you would always find something you missed previously. Just seeing exhibits involving a favorite player, or stars that you had heard about but never got to see play, was a moving experience.I headed for Springfield, MA next. The Basketball Hall of Fame is located there and that was another sport that has always interested me. As I walked through the displays, a jersey on a bust caught my attention. The Kenyon College No. 24 was one I had seen in person. It belonged to John Rinka who just happens to still be the leading scorer in Ohio Athletic Conference history.He was voted the best player in the nation under 6-foot tall his senior year (1970) and I had the privilege of playing against him in his final game at Kenyon. The Lords beat Hiram that night 116-110. Rinka had 52. I had 4. Yes, there was that big of a difference in our abilities!Just to the right of his jersey was a box score and it was from that game. There it was big as life. My name. I was "officially" part of the Basketball Hall of Fame. Thanks of course to John Rinka.Now it was on to Boston. When I got to the ballpark I found a place to park. If you have ever been to Fenway Park you know that parking is difficult as space surrounding the stadium is limited. There obviously was a game about to be played and I went into a small enclosure with several ticket windows.My heart fluttered as a man announced that tonight's game was sold out. Only a limited number of standing room only seats were still available. Well, I'd come this far… When I got to the front of one of the lines, a lady told me that all they had was standing room only tickets left and asked me how many I wanted.After making a crude comment about how many people I looked like, I informed her that I had driven all the way from Ohio and just wanted to get inside the stadium. She said that she would check to see if any tickets had been turned in and came back with a single ducat. It was a box seat behind the third base dugout. I couldn't believe my luck. I went into Fenway and purchased a souvenir score book. After locating my seat, I put the score book on the seat and ventured toward the Green Monster in left field. After getting a picture of the famed landmark, I returned to my seat only to see that my purchase had been pilfered. Red Sox fans – you still owe me!The game was with the California Angels and the Red Sox were on a streak of 16 wins in 17 games. Naturally the Angels won 8-3 on this night and Boston fans were not happy. Boos reigned down in the late innings of the game and manager Don Zimmer would have been fired on the spot if the fans had had their way. I remember thinking that these people should try rooting for the Indians if 16 out of 17 wins was not good enough.After the game I got up on the Massachusetts turnpike and drove to the first rest area. I found a deserted spot in the far reaches of the parking lot and crawled into the back seat to get some shuteye. Remember, I said maturity was not my main strong point.In the morning I was awoken by a truck which parked right beside me. The truck had mowers on it that the workers very noisily unloaded. I believe they parked there intentionally just to wake me up.Well, it worked and I was soon on my way to New York City. Still not knowing if the Yankees were at home, I heard on the radio that they would be playing a twi-night doubleheader that evening. My luck was continuing in the right direction.Parking was not a problem at Yankee Stadium though it was expensive. Not like today expensive, but for the time… This night belonged to Reggie Jackson. He went something like 5 for 8 in the double dip with three home runs and was the toast of the crowd.One of his home runs was a majestic shot that landed in the third deck, three rows up and three seats in. It came close to leaving the stadium entirely and I believe it was mentioned in umpire Ron Luciano's book "The Umpire Strikes Back" as the longest home run he had ever witnessed. I would concur.The second game was over after midnight and it was time to hit the road again. Unfortunately, I missed a chance to get on the interstate and found myself lost in the Bronx. The streets were teeming with people and I was, to say the least, uncomfortable. I recalled thinking "don't these people have to work tomorrow" as it was a Thursday night – or should I say Friday morning!Eventually I returned home safe and sound. I still had no thoughts about going to every stadium, but that would be about to change. For those of you who are wondering how many columns I will have to write – two at a time would take a while – next week I will take you on the trip that had me taking in seven parks before it was over.