Listography List #7. The ESPN Edition

Ok, this is fun. And complicated. The prompt is “what sports teams have you seen play?” Here’s the thing, I know the home teams, but not for sure the away ones. So here is my best guess.

1. All the MLB AL and NL teams. When I lived in NYC, I recovered from the end of my very short first marriage by pretty much moving into baseball parks–the cheap seats. So for a year or two I was at every possible home game for the Yanks and the Mets, including a pretty amazing extra inning playoff game in 1995. Sat in the VERY LAST ROW in the old Yankee Stadium behind home plate. They won in the rain in the 15th inning when Jimmy Leyritz hit a 2-run walk-off homer. It was 1:22 am. And I had savored every second. Then I moved to Atlanta and fell in love with the Braves in their very best years–they had a pitching staff direct from heaven. For the last several years of my time there, friends and I had tickets to every Friday night home game and assorted other games during the season. I left Atlanta for Philly, just as the Braves were trading away everyone I was attached to and just as the Phillies were becoming absolutely magical. My daughter announced at age 2 “I a baseball fan!!!” and screams “go Phillies!” with delight. She wants her stuffed monkey to have a baseball shirt to go with his batting helmet (ice cream bowl from the stadium). Mommy is very proud.

"I a baseball fan!" and sometimes it feels like this...

Needless to say, I have seen all the teams in both leagues at some point, but here is a list of the teams I have seen in their own parks:

Boston Red Sox
NY Yankees
Seattle Mariners
Chicago White Sox
NY Mets
Philadelphia Phillies
Atlanta Braves
Houston Astros
Chicago Cubs

The other big highlight on that list was my serendipitous trip to the Astros game during a business trip to Houston. It was the night of Craig Biggio’s 3000th hit (also 3001 and 3002). It also turned into an amazing extra inning game. I went alone, having bought the ticket months earlier when the trip was planned. A MAGICAL night.

You can tell I love baseball. My dad was a huge Red Sox fan, and I grew up on instructions to watch the game and tell him what had happened when he came in from yard work. I took it seriously and it was a huge bond between us over the years.

As a true fan, I have also been to minor league games:
Hometeams:
Pawtucket Red Sox
Portland Sea Dogs
Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs
Trenton Thunder
Somerset Patriots (one time little sis sang the National Anthem. Go, JENNY!)
vs. various opponents

One Senior League game (not sure who)
One Game in Japan in the Japanese Major Leagues (no idea which one, sadly)
College baseball: Kennesaw Owls (including going to Montgomery AL to watch them lose in the playoffs…).

I’m also a much less intense football fan, but have never seen a pro game live. I have seen some pretty sad Ivy League football at Brown in the 1980s. Nuf said.

I’m addicted to March Madness, but have only seen limited college ball live. One game of the GA Bulldogs, and several of the Kennesaw Owls the year they won Division II (GO OWLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

I’ve accidentally seen some regattas on the Schuylkill River, when training for my marathons on Kelly Drive, but I’m not sure which schools were competing, and I was mostly just trying to survive the loop with minimal foot damage, so I wasn’t really paying much attention.

I’ve seen Yannick Noah and Stefan Edberg play in live tennis matches–forget who they each played against.

That’s it. Pitchers and catchers report on Monday. HOW SWEET! Spring is officially on its way!