Good Times at Cooper Stadium

[cincibuck]

It was sophomore year when I discovered the joys of baseball at Cooper Stadium. The Jets' (previously the Blue Birds, now the Clippers) season didn't start until May and so you only had two weeks to catch a game before school was out and I was back in Dayton, making shock absorbers or rubber door seals.

A buddy from dorm days and I headed out to Mound Street and discovered that it only cost fifty cents more to sit in a box seat and that beer and hot dogs were a quarter a piece. There we were, first row, just a few feet beyond first base, catching a double header and with enough money to consider doing a beer an inning.

Too cheap to send a broadcast team, The local radio station would carry the road games by simulation. The announcer would set the scene, call the game from ticker tape updates and a helper would make all the sound affects including the sound of the bat hitting a ball.

1967, my senior year, the Pirates traded for Maury Wills, adding defense and speed to a team with Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. The Jets hosted them in an annual game at Cooper and the chance to see a Pittsburgh team that was favored to win the NL pennant brought a full house to the stadium. The Jets jumped off to an early lead and looked to add to it when Jets' Bob Robertson, soon to be a regular with the major league club, lined a ball off the right field wall. Rounding First, Robertson made sure Clemente fielded the ball, turned and began to walk back to the bag. From just outside the warning track Roberto cut loose with one of those famous sidearm rainbow throws to Stargell to nail a stunned Robertson. In the ninth the Pirates pulled within a run, a runner on second, no outs, heart of the order coming up and the Jets called on Sal Maglie, a lefty who had pitched for some strong Giants' teams in the Polo Grounds and Candlestick. Maglie, fast ball long gone, was useless beyond an inning, but for one inning he could be tough. Using sliders, change ups and a wicked curve that seemed to drop two feet in front of the plate, Maglie struck out two and got Stargell to tap out to short to end the game.

One of my fondest memories from many years of watching baseball.

[Oh8ch]

Ah, memory lane. Jet Bars and Jet Badges.

Jet Bars were a mix of orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream. I still salivate at the memory.

Jet Badges sold for 50 cents and allowed a parent to take their kids into games free all season. I grew up on the SW side and my best friend lived a few blocks from the stadium. We would walk to the games and stand outside waiting for someone to agree to take us in as their kids. Never had to ask more than one or two people. Probably went to 30 games a year that way.

And the only baseball card I still own is one of Johnny Powers - my all time Jet hero.

(You young pups will just have to humor us. We will be dead soon enough.)

[brodybuck21]

Originally Posted by Oh8ch

Ah, memory lane. Jet Bars and Jet Badges.

Jet Bars were a mix of orange sherbet and vanilla ice cream. I still salivate at the memory.

Jet Badges sold for 50 cents and allowed a parent to take their kids into games free all season. I grew up on the SW side and my best friend lived a few blocks from the stadium. We would walk to the games and stand outside waiting for someone to agree to take us in as their kids. Never had to ask more than one or two people. Probably went to 30 games a year that way.

And the only baseball card I still own is one of Johnny Powers - my all time Jet hero.

(You young pups will just have to humor us. We will be dead soon enough.)

keep the stories coming. some of my fondest memories from childhood are at cooper stadium. we lived on s. roys ave on the hilltop so we got to go plenty. I can remember the smell of beer as soon as you walked in, the turf, the crack of the bat and oh yeah....the cow bells

[BUCKYLE]

I remember dime a dog night. Personal best was 8. I was a big kid.

I remember going after the spring game with Spielman36. It was funny nose and glasses night. Always wanted to catch a foul ball, never did.

[brodybuck21]

Originally Posted by BUCKYLE

I remember dime a dog night. Personal best was 8. I was a big kid.

I remember going after the spring game with Spielman36. It was funny nose and glasses night. Always wanted to catch a foul ball, never did.

i remember watching deion sanders hit an inside the park homerun, darryl strawberry on a rehab asignment blowing me off, derek jeter going 0-5 the only time i saw him at the coop, ron goldens baseball camp, etc......great times

[BUCKYLE]

Originally Posted by brodybuck21

i remember watching deion sanders hit an inside the park homerun, darryl strawberry on a rehab asignment blowing me off, derek jeter going 0-5 the only time i saw him at the coop, ron goldens baseball camp, etc......great times

I remember getting an autographed baseball, with all of the Yankee greats that had played for the Clippers at one point. I remember being [censored]ing amazed...untill I realized they weren't actuall signatures.

[brodybuck21]

Originally Posted by BUCKYLE

I remember getting an autographed baseball, with all of the Yankee greats that had played for the Clippers at one point. I remember being [censored]ing amazed...untill I realized they weren't actuall signatures.

i had that ball too.....lol

[BUCKYLE]

I also remember dime a wing night. Spielman36 challenged me to a wing eating contest. I beat him 60-20. By the time I got to forty wings, I was just showing off.

[brodybuck21]

Originally Posted by BUCKYLE

I also remember dime a wing night. Spielman36 challenged me to a wing eating contest. I beat him 60-20. By the time I got to forty wings, I was just showing off.

dime a dog night was a blast but dime a wing night i never got to experience. lucky bastard. i once snuck up the stairs to the suites and walked around the entire upper level for about 5 innings. the bathrooms were nicer and the view of the game was awesome. felt like a badass...i was prolly 10 years old

['BusNative]

I must have seen 3209482304 Clippers games growing up. And people always give me [censored] for being a Yankees fan... I miss the Bucky Dent years

One time, we were popping cups (if you dont know, you never will) and I banged my knee on the chair in front of me. Had to get Cooper Stadium first aid... which may have been just pouring beer over my bleeding leg.

We used to give Ol' Beer Here so much [censored]. He must have been 134 years old, and looked like he hated life (or maybe just a bunch of kids giving him [censored]).

Also, long before interleague play, my grandpa used to ump the preseason Reds-Indians "Battle of Ohio" games. I still have a framed picture of me getting Paul O'Neil's autograph (framed with the card) somewhere at my mom's house.

One last memory, my other grandpa grew up near the stadium, so going to games was a blast for him. One time he was telling us how he used to play stickball with bottle caps - we didn't believe him. So he goes, finds a broom and a bottle cap, tosses the cap in the air, and knocked it out. Pretty impressive.

[BUCKYLE]

Originally Posted by brodybuck21

dime a dog night was a blast but dime a wing night i never got to experience. lucky bastard. i once snuck up the stairs to the suites and walked around the entire upper level for about 5 innings. the bathrooms were nicer and the view of the game was awesome. felt like a badass...i was prolly 10 years old

Dime a wing night was...epic. There was some drunk dude sitting by us. He was passed out by the third inning. All the cops at the stadium knew his name. I think that's the day I decided to become a drunk. He would fall asleep, then wake up and start cheering.

[brodybuck21]

Originally Posted by 'BusNative

I must have seen 3209482304 Clippers games growing up. And people always give me [censored] for being a Yankees fan... I miss the Bucky Dent years

One time, we were popping cups (if you dont know, you never will) and I banged my knee on the chair in front of me. Had to get Cooper Stadium first aid... which may have been just pouring beer over my bleeding leg.

We used to give Ol' Beer Here so much [censored]. He must have been 134 years old, and looked like he hated life (or maybe just a bunch of kids giving him [censored]).

Also, long before interleague play, my grandpa used to ump the preseason Reds-Indians "Battle of Ohio" games. I still have a framed picture of me getting Paul O'Neil's autograph (framed with the card) somewhere at my mom's house.

One last memory, my other grandpa grew up near the stadium, so going to games was a blast for him. One time he was telling us how he used to play stickball with bottle caps - we didn't believe him. So he goes, finds a broom and a bottle cap, tosses the cap in the air, and knocked it out. Pretty impressive.

[Bucky Katt]

Originally Posted by brodybuck21

i remember watching deion sanders hit an inside the park homerun, darryl strawberry on a rehab asignment blowing me off, derek jeter going 0-5 the only time i saw him at the coop, ron goldens baseball camp, etc......great times

I remember getting down there 5-10 times a season growing up. Bernie and Gerald Williams, Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens, Jay Buhner, Andy Petitte, Sam Militello (never did [censored]), Dave Eiland, Alvaro Espinoza and those ridiculous goggles, Orestes Destrada (only notable because he's now on Baseball Tonight), Mike Coolbaugh (notable only because he's dead), Hal Morris and then Van Snider (after the Yanks and the Reds traded them for each other), Roberto Bobby Roberto Kelly and Pat Kelly (no relation), one of the Leiter guys....maybe Mark, maybe Al, maybe both....

A lot of good times had. My dad nearly getting arrested for giving away andfuls of free tickets before the game. A friend breaking his hand when a foul ball landed on it on the arm rest, dime-a-dog nights ().....

[brodybuck21]

Originally Posted by Bucky Katt

I remember getting down there 5-10 times a season growing up. Bernie and Gerald Williams, Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens, Jay Buhner, Andy Petitte, Sam Militello (never did [censored]), Dave Eiland, Alvaro Espinoza and those ridiculous goggles, Orestes Destrada (only notable because he's now on Baseball Tonight), Mike Coolbaugh (notable only because he's dead), Hal Morris and then Van Snider (after the Yanks and the Reds traded them for each other), Roberto Bobby Roberto Kelly and Pat Kelly (no relation), one of the Leiter guys....maybe Mark, maybe Al, maybe both....

A lot of good times had. My dad nearly getting arrested for giving away andfuls of free tickets before the game. A friend breaking his hand when a foul ball landed on it on the arm rest, dime-a-dog nights ().....

beautiful...i still have autographs (somewhere) of jorge posada, gerald and bernie williams, mark leiter, jeter, petitte, and many more...loved orestes destrade cuz i thought his name was soooooooo cool

[brodybuck21]

Originally Posted by Bucky Katt

I remember getting down there 5-10 times a season growing up. Bernie and Gerald Williams, Hensley "Bam Bam" Meulens, Jay Buhner, Andy Petitte, Sam Militello (never did [censored]), Dave Eiland, Alvaro Espinoza and those ridiculous goggles, Orestes Destrada (only notable because he's now on Baseball Tonight), Mike Coolbaugh (notable only because he's dead), Hal Morris and then Van Snider (after the Yanks and the Reds traded them for each other), Roberto Bobby Roberto Kelly and Pat Kelly (no relation), one of the Leiter guys....maybe Mark, maybe Al, maybe both....

A lot of good times had. My dad nearly getting arrested for giving away andfuls of free tickets before the game. A friend breaking his hand when a foul ball landed on it on the arm rest, dime-a-dog nights ().....

"how could you trade jay buhner???

my scouts tell me this ken phelps can really hit the baseball"