What player most reminds you of your childhood

[Fnazxc0114]

I have two players. The first is steve beuchelle. the first rangers game i ever went to i remembered asking my day why everyone was booing him. Come to find out it was how they cheered for him. The second player would be ruben sierra. This is primarily due to i think he got robbed in 89 in the mvp. Well i dont really think he got robbed but it is my first memory of actually caring about baseball stats and such

[CampWest]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

I'm going baseball on this answer.

Let's see... I grew up in KC. Was 6 in 1980 (AL Champs, think .390 batting average), and thereby 11 in 1985 (Royals WS)... Any guesses?

Yeah obviously George Brett is first and foremost. How could you not love him? The intensity, the passion, the competitiveness... and all that with his skill and talent. George Brett never jogged to first on a routine ground ball.

The rest all blend together closely behind. Frank White's consistent bat and gold glove defense. The under-appreciated hitting and awe inspiring speed of Willie Wilson (the great conundrum of my childhood - Wilson at first, second base empty, Brett hitting. Do you miss Wilson's masterful lead, jump and easy steal of second or did you miss watching Brett hitting? Answer was normally easy. Brett was taking a couple pitches to let Wilson get into scoring position, so watch Willie.). The kookiness of Cone and Saberhagen. A few years later it was the spectacle of Bo Jackson. Nolan Ryan we saw nearly every time he came to KC.

For a sleeper - Jim Eisenreich. I still recall sitting right behind the Royals dugout when late in the game Eisenreich blasted a liner to right center, the ball never got more than 15 feet off the ground, was out of the park in the blink of an eye as it smashed into the facade of the signage in the fountains. I believe to this day the ball was still climbing when it hit the fence. I don't know if I've ever seen another ball hit that hard, including McGwire batting practice. The ball was out of the stadium before anyone could react. Curtain call, crowd going nuts, WOW! what a moment.

They say we are a product of our times... being in KC growing up in the hey-day of the Royals, there is no way I could not answer that Brett most reminds me of my childhood. And while I never had his skill, I did absorb that relentless fight and competitiveness.

Any time I see Brett highlights, I feel like a little kid.

[Fnazxc0114]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

do you have any sundberg memories. hes the VP for the rangers and is really fan friendly

[CampWest]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

do you have any sundberg memories. hes the VP for the rangers and is really fan friendly

Oh yeah of course... That whole stretch from late 70s to late 80s was a great time for baseball in KC. They had some great teams and a lot of great players. Jim was always fun to watch and clutch when the opportunity arose. I seem to remember more of John Wathan at catcher, but Sundberg's performance in 1985 was very memorable. Jim was only with the Royals for 85 & 86, so that brief stint is probably why he's not a bigger part of my memory. I think all Royals fans who remember the 85 World Series love Jim Sundberg, seems like he always gets a really warm reception when he is in town.

[kingjammy24]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood



rudy.

[33bird]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

Pete Rose and Johnny Bench. The Big Red Machine and the Moustache Gang. The hated Dodgers of Garvey and Cey. The hated Yanks of Reggie. The 70s were great!

[nomo121]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

Mine will is Cecil Fielder and Mickey Tettleton. Being from detroit and then living in Texas, they were my favorite. I was the bigger kid, so Cecil was my hero. As many kids do, i held a bat kind of like tettleton. Over the years, I moved a lil away from that.

[Lokee]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

I grew up in Canada so natually it was Toronto.

Manny Lee
Dave Stieb
Jorge I mean George Bell

Also like Rudy Canseco, Thomas Griffey ect..

[emann]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

1. Wade Boggs
2. Just about any rookies from the '85 - '87 era baseball cards sets (Clemens, Puckett, McGwire, Canseco)
3. Pete Rose

[bigtruck260]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

Dale Murphy was everything to me as a little kid. He had power, speed and was just a great guy. I grew up in Lexington Park, MD before coming to St. Louis - and I watched all of the Braves games on WTBS in the earlier days of cable TV.

Honorable Mention:

Nolan Ryan
Terry Pendleton
Milt Thompson
Willie McGee
Rickey Henderson

[skyking26]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

Dave Kingman

[corsairs22]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

The Great Roberto.

[metsbats]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

Any member of the 1973 Mets.

[Kid4hof03]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

Magic Johnson, I think I was about 16 when I finally realized it was going to be impossible to play "big" point guard at 5ft. 8.

Baseball it is Reggie and Mattingly. All I wanted for Christmas when I was 8 years old was a black wooden bat so I could be like Reggie. A few years after that I worked tirelessly at trying to copy Mattingly's batting stance.

I probably need to throw Pete Rose into the mix, any kid that ever slid head first was trying to be Pete.

Abe

[CampWest]

Re: What player most reminds you of your childhood

Johnny Bench would be another one for me too... but not so much for his baseball playing



The Baseball Bunch was part of my every Saturday morning routine.

Pete Rose and Johnny Bench. The Big Red Machine and the Moustache Gang. The hated Dodgers of Garvey and Cey. The hated Yanks of Reggie. The 70s were great!