Sports Then and Now

Todd Helton and the Rockies are looking to regain their magic from 2007.

Flashback to only two years ago, 2007 and these same two teams were to meet in the NL Division Series. The Philadelphia Phillies had overcome a seven game deficit with 17 games to play. Trying to erase some ghosts of their own, particularly the “Big Choke” of 1964 when the Phillies blew a six game lead with 10 games to go against the St. Louis Cardinals, this team came charging down the stretch led by their big three Ryan Howard, Chase, Utley and NL MVP winner Jimmy Rollins.

However, the vast majority of the 2007 team weren’t even born in 1964, except for Jaime Moyer, when that Phillies team gave away that pennant in 1964. This team had a terrific September and beat the highly favored New York Mets to win the crown on the last day of the season.

Their opponent then as now was the Colorado Rockies who stormed through September that year like Sherman marching through Georgia to win the wild card. They lost one game in their last 50,(only kidding)but it certainly felt that way. They had a momentum going for them that eventually swept through not only the Phillies in three straight, but then swept the Diamondbacks in four straight to head into a classic match up with the now powerful and World Series experienced Boston Red Sox.

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The creation of the Mets brought National League baseball back to New York.

This is the first part of series which will tell the Mets story for the past 47 years as well as events in my life which correspond to those times. Hope you’ll enjoy it as much as I will writing it.

Before I get started, for those who do not care for long articles you may want to skip this one. As I write it, I’m not sure just how long it will be, but it will focus on many things that have bothered me throughout the 48 seasons I’ve have watched, grown up, and loved, the New York Mets.

It was April 10th 1962. The very next day I would celebrate my 17th birthday. I was a Senior at Midwood High School in Brooklyn New York and my life was well again because baseball, real National League baseball, was back in New York City where it truly belonged.

My boyhood team, the Brooklyn Dodgers abandoned me at the end of the 1957 season seeking out greener pastures in Los Angeles California which for me at the tender age of 12 was as devastating a heartbreak that I could recall in my life.

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“As time passes, my story fades away.”

The story of Dave Dravecky is one of overcoming personal adversity and hardships.

—Dave Dravecky

Dave Dravecky made his major-league debut with the San Diego Padres on June 15, 1982.

The left-handed Dravecky pitched 105 innings his rookie year, posting an ERA of 2.57.

In Dravecky’s sophomore year, he was named to Major League Baseball’s All-Star game and pitched two scoreless innings while striking out George Brett and Fred Lynn.

In over 25 innings of post season play, Dravecky was used both as a relief pitcher and as a starter. As a relief pitcher in the 1984 World Series for the Padres, Dravecky was flawless, allowing no earned runs in either the NLCS or the World Series, which the Padres eventually lost in five games to the Detroit Tigers.
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Mike Coolbaugh checking out the sitaution with his two boys

As a writer who seems to specialize in the “xoxo” of the game, I often set out on a journalistic journey of sorts when I put words to paper. Although my intention is a good one, the motive often becomes a concentrated effort to elicit a certain response.

I’m not sure if it is a gift or simply the willingness to open up my heart, but more often than not, my goal is to make my audience feel the sorrow associated with an event. To warm the heart by moistening the heart. To make my readers feel the pain that the participants in the story felt themselves and to relate it to their own life.

And then sometimes, the story is so incredibly sad all on it’s own, that I don’t need to say a word. I simply need to recount the events and let the reader feel on their own. Read the rest of this entry →

Just so you know, I love baseball and I love the major championships for tennis and golf and I love NASCAR (except when Jeff Burton is struggling like he is this year) and I’m somewhat infatuated with the NBA Playoffs, but I really LOVE football season.

So, you can imagine just how happy I am that the football season has finally started. For a while I wasn’t sure if it would ever start.

Before We Get Started
Since today marks the eighth anniversary of a tragic day in the history of our country and world, I would be remiss if I didn’t start my column with an acknowledgement that sports are wonderful, but in the larger scheme they are only games and entertainment. It is days like today when we must remember what is more important, family, friends, country, values, relationships and all the other things that we hold dear.

You will see on this site a couple articles that were submitted by regular contributors to this site. These are heartfelt stories and I hope you will read them with as much interest as any game story or player feature.

I especially encourage you to take a minute to read the amazing story written by Julia Civin, the 18-year old daughter of talented writer Todd Civin. You can see that his writing talent has not skipped a generation as she penned an amazing story called “When The World Decided To Share My Birthday” that is a must-read. It truly illustrates how the events of September 11 forever changed the world, even for a then-10-year-old girl.

Okay, now back to the sports.
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Bernie Williams: The latest member of the A Glove of Their Own team

When any baseball fan hears the name Bernie Williams, a distinct image immediately comes to mind.  Brimming with class, a confident smile, and, of course, dressed in pinstripes, Williams is to the Yankees what The Stadium is to the Yankees—forever connected until the very end of time.

Williams, however, possesses the undeniable character traits which transcend the uniform and are universally admired by fans from New York, Chicago and yes, even Boston, whenever his name is mentioned.

“Bernie Williams is a class act,” explains Bob Salomon, coach of the award-winning children’s story A Glove of Their Own. “I guarantee you that every teammate, every opponent, and every fan of baseball describes him in much the same way. A kind and caring family man, who also happened to be one hell of a baseball player.” Read the rest of this entry →