October 27th

October 27th.  It's NOT my birthday. It's the day PRIOR to my birthday. But in my time on this earth it has a fairly major significance.  

On this date in 1986 the New York Mets won their second World Series championship.  I was in New York City at the time and attended the ticker tape parade on the 28th.  I attended that parade and had my photo taken on top of the World Trade Center on my 25th birthday. What a present that was! 

One would think that would be a great experience and it certainly was. But I got lucky again only five years later.  On this date in 1991 I was ON THE FIELD when the World Series ended as the Minnesota Twins won game 7 against the Atlanta Braves. How a baseball fanatic like myself could not be awed by such things is beyond comprehension.

On October 26, 1991 I was behind the wall next to the Braves bullpen in the bottom of the ninth.  Kirby Puckett led off that half inning and I was standing in front of the large pin which held that portion of the wall in place.  When the ball was hit I knew from the sound that it was a home run.  I pulled the pin up and headed out onto the field to assist the in-house law enforcement officials in making sure that no one ran onto the field.  I paused, for one frightening moment as I crossed the foul line, thinking "what if it doesn't clear the wall?"  I was the first person on the field, not knowing if anyone else had followed me.  I could be the "lone fool" on the field.  But, alas, it cleared and the place went crazy.  I took my position on the third base bag until the grounds crew came out for it as the players celebrated in the dugout in front of me.

But that only made it necessary for game 7 to be played the next night. I started the night by working at the press gate.  By the eighth inning of game 7 I was back in my position, behind the wall next to the Braves 'pen. (This was because we all agreed to stand in the same places as we had late in game 6.  Baseball players, and fans for that matter, are quite superstitious at times). 

The game was tied at 0-0 through 8.  I couldn't actually watch the Braves at bats, simply relying on crowd reaction and organist Ronnie Newman to keep me apprised of defensive outs. I turned and watched the Twins when they batted, however.  In the ninth they had a chance to win, but the rally ended on a Paul Sorrento strikeout.  Once again I turned away from the action while Jack Morris turned away the Braves in the top of the tenth.  

The bottom of the tenth started with Dan Gladden turning a single into a double, much to the surprise of myself who watched the play develop and thought it was a mistake.  But the high bounce of the turf came into play and the inning was off to a great start.  The inning progressed to the point where the bases were loaded for pinch hitter Gene Larkin.  Larkin hit the first pitch into the alley, over the shallow outfield, and Gladden scored the only run of the game.  I pulled the pin yet again and made my sprint onto the field as the decibel level rose to  an incredible level.  I had decided to forego ear plugs as to not miss any of the sounds from that evening.  

As I ran onto the field and got to the stripe which marks the beginning of the outfield, I raised my head just in time to barely miss running over Braves' second baseman Mark Lemke, who was walking off slowly with his head down.  How much of an insult would it have been had I blind-sided him after his team had just lost one of the greatest World Series ever played?

I made my way to third base as the Metrodome was "up for grabs".  The players burst out onto the field as we ran past each other in opposite directions.  It was an incredibly surreal moment which I will never forget. I remember thinking, "what a great birthday gift this is....again!"

It was a misty evening/morning that night and a few hours later, after having a fairly large quantity of champagne poured over my head, I was in the concourse awaiting the first of the players to make their way up the stairs.  The first player out was Gene Larkin.  "How's it feel, Gene?", I said to him. "Rod, it's amazing!", was his response.  

I remember driving home. I had a Hyundai Excel and I had the sunroof and the front windows open.  With Queen's "We are the Champions" on virtually every station I hit the crosstown around 5:45 a.m.  I arrived at home around 6:05.  The paper was in front of my garage and I recall picking it up to make sure that I was indeed not dreaming.  I wasn't.

Some people never see their team win a championship.  I've been lucky to have seen TWO of mine win championships plus been involved in a third.  The New York Rangers in 1994 and the New York Mets in 1969 and 1986. 

I've been a lucky sports fan, to be honest.  

Minnesota Vikings.......are you listening????

I'm just sayin'.