The biggest thrill I had as a youngster was playing in a Khoury League All Star Game in the old Sportsmans Park. It was 1950. The second biggest thrill was seeing Babe Ruth at the park a few months before he passed on. I was a serious Brownie fan because you could knothole every game for free.
I was fortunate to see both the Cards and the Browns play ball here. I was 12 years old and my friend and i would take the bus and then the street car to the game by ourselves. Those were the good old days when a kid could go anywhere without fear.
@CheetoSantana I'm an Astros fan, but I'm hoping the Cardinals can come back and catch Cincinnati to take the division this year. Although the Astros and Cardinals have always been rivals I think we respect each other. I haven't liked Cincy since that Phillips joker opened his big mouth. We have to play them a few more times this season. I'm hoping we can help y'all by beating them.
I remember my dad saying that nearly everybody in the South liked either the Cardinals or the Browns back before expansion. No Astros, Rangers or Atlanta Braves back in the '40s and '50s. And St. Louis was closer to Dixie than any other of the original major league cities
@Creepingdeathx81 Depends what part of the South you're in. I'm from Louisiana and most of us in the southern part of the state are Astros fans while north of Alexandria they're Rangers fans. Now my girlfriend is from North Carolina, in fact the same town as former Braves pitcher Kevin Millwood and they're mostly Braves fans in the eastern part of Dixie. I don't consider Florida teams because it's mostly transplanted yankees in Miami and Tampa.
@ridgerunner721601 True but the braves of course used to be on tbs so you could say they reached more places than the south and still to this day the Braves have the largest radio network in all of baseball they reach into markets that other major league teams draw from with their radio network , I would say though that the braves draw from more states in mlb that most if not all teams , Georgia obviously , Tennessee, Alabama , Mississippi , South Carolina , North Carolina , parts of ark, la, va
@Creepingdeathx81 LOL....That's true. My dad passed away in 2002 but he had really become a Braves fan because of the games on TBS. I remember he called Chipper Jones "Chippy Jones". He'd say "that Chippy Jones is the best young player in baseball". And I always pulled for the Braves or the Cardinals if the Astros were out of the running. I just hated the Mets and Cubs though. LOL
@ridgerunner721601 lol yea well at least he wasn't saying it as an insult like a lot of mets fans started doing , they are idiots it doesn't make sense to make fun of a guys name that just comes out and straight dominates you like chipper did when we played the mets.
@Creepingdeathx81 Ha ha....My dad didn't like the Mets either. Way back in 1986 the Astros should have made it to the World Series that year, but there was this one umpire named Fred Brocklander who must have made half a dozen calls, some close and some not even close all on New York's side. They even hanged him in effigy at the Astrodome...LOL. What gets me is how time has flown by. I hear Chipper is thinking about retiring soon. It seems like just yesterday he came up to the majors!!!
@ridgerunner721601 so while the braves don't have the long history in Atlanta like the Cards do in St Louis they do have a large fan base even though the attendance numbers don't always show that. And oh yea i think if any part of florida likes the Braves it would have to be the northern part of the state mostly.
@Creepingdeathx81 I wish TBS would start televising Braves games again. What's the deal there? Why did they ever stop? We're going through a rebuilding phase in Houston. No telling when we'll be contending again. And if the Astros don't win the N.L. I always pull for either the Braves or Cards to take it.
@ridgerunner721601 I'm not sure , I think it had something to do with low ratings probably due to the fact that mlb games can be shown anywhere now days , the days of people from states outside georgia having only 1 team to watch on a regular basis are long gone thanks to all the regional networks and satellite tv you can watch more than 1 team a night now, I also heard it had something to do with MLB making stricter rules on who can show what games out of their market or something like that .
@Creepingdeathx81 I know they have some station out of Chicago that shows or used to show a lot of Cubs games. We couldn't get it in southwest Louisiana though. I didn't care too much though. I never had any use for the Cubs. By the way, who do y'all think will take Cox's place next year? It's hard to believe Bobby won't be back. He's been manager seems like forever and a day.
Ahhh nice to look back on the "good old days" when baseball players & fans were closer. Thank You KETC for documenting our cities history for all to see.
My Dad pitched in a semi-pro club in Flatbush (Brooklyn) in the late 40's, he was a southpaw pitcher and legend has it, a Browns scout gave him a look. Unfortunately he didn't live long enough for me to ask what happened, obviously he wasn't or didn't sign. But with that said, for my entire life I've been enamored with the Browns. Sportsman's Park looked really beautiful.
What a thrill it was for the 109-cm dwarf Eddie Gaedel to make his one appearance at bat for the Browns in August 1951.
hb2019 3 months ago
The biggest thrill I had as a youngster was playing in a Khoury League All Star Game in the old Sportsmans Park. It was 1950. The second biggest thrill was seeing Babe Ruth at the park a few months before he passed on. I was a serious Brownie fan because you could knothole every game for free.
portobob 6 months ago
@portobob Babe Rurh died in 1948
THEPHILADELPHIAPHART 5 months ago
@THEPHILADELPHIAPHART Stan The Man is still alive, @ the age of 91.
jkgjihghb 2 weeks ago
i dont know baseball..but i know cardinals..they are all time great..
harshaare 1 year ago
I was fortunate to see both the Cards and the Browns play ball here. I was 12 years old and my friend and i would take the bus and then the street car to the game by ourselves. Those were the good old days when a kid could go anywhere without fear.
eold2412 1 year ago 2
can t seem to get anything to post,. so I sent this to facebook Pat Roth @ Phoenix , AZ
cpatr3208 1 year ago
I love St. Louis and the Cardinals
CheetoSantana 1 year ago
@CheetoSantana I'm an Astros fan, but I'm hoping the Cardinals can come back and catch Cincinnati to take the division this year. Although the Astros and Cardinals have always been rivals I think we respect each other. I haven't liked Cincy since that Phillips joker opened his big mouth. We have to play them a few more times this season. I'm hoping we can help y'all by beating them.
ridgerunner721601 1 year ago
I remember my dad saying that nearly everybody in the South liked either the Cardinals or the Browns back before expansion. No Astros, Rangers or Atlanta Braves back in the '40s and '50s. And St. Louis was closer to Dixie than any other of the original major league cities
ridgerunner721601 1 year ago
@ridgerunner721601 That may have been true back then but now the Braves are the team of the south :o) and some would even say america's team .
Creepingdeathx81 1 year ago
@Creepingdeathx81 Depends what part of the South you're in. I'm from Louisiana and most of us in the southern part of the state are Astros fans while north of Alexandria they're Rangers fans. Now my girlfriend is from North Carolina, in fact the same town as former Braves pitcher Kevin Millwood and they're mostly Braves fans in the eastern part of Dixie. I don't consider Florida teams because it's mostly transplanted yankees in Miami and Tampa.
ridgerunner721601 1 year ago
@ridgerunner721601 True but the braves of course used to be on tbs so you could say they reached more places than the south and still to this day the Braves have the largest radio network in all of baseball they reach into markets that other major league teams draw from with their radio network , I would say though that the braves draw from more states in mlb that most if not all teams , Georgia obviously , Tennessee, Alabama , Mississippi , South Carolina , North Carolina , parts of ark, la, va
Creepingdeathx81 1 year ago
@Creepingdeathx81 LOL....That's true. My dad passed away in 2002 but he had really become a Braves fan because of the games on TBS. I remember he called Chipper Jones "Chippy Jones". He'd say "that Chippy Jones is the best young player in baseball". And I always pulled for the Braves or the Cardinals if the Astros were out of the running. I just hated the Mets and Cubs though. LOL
ridgerunner721601 1 year ago
@ridgerunner721601 lol yea well at least he wasn't saying it as an insult like a lot of mets fans started doing , they are idiots it doesn't make sense to make fun of a guys name that just comes out and straight dominates you like chipper did when we played the mets.
Creepingdeathx81 1 year ago
@Creepingdeathx81 Ha ha....My dad didn't like the Mets either. Way back in 1986 the Astros should have made it to the World Series that year, but there was this one umpire named Fred Brocklander who must have made half a dozen calls, some close and some not even close all on New York's side. They even hanged him in effigy at the Astrodome...LOL. What gets me is how time has flown by. I hear Chipper is thinking about retiring soon. It seems like just yesterday he came up to the majors!!!
ridgerunner721601 1 year ago
@ridgerunner721601 so while the braves don't have the long history in Atlanta like the Cards do in St Louis they do have a large fan base even though the attendance numbers don't always show that. And oh yea i think if any part of florida likes the Braves it would have to be the northern part of the state mostly.
Creepingdeathx81 1 year ago
@Creepingdeathx81 I wish TBS would start televising Braves games again. What's the deal there? Why did they ever stop? We're going through a rebuilding phase in Houston. No telling when we'll be contending again. And if the Astros don't win the N.L. I always pull for either the Braves or Cards to take it.
ridgerunner721601 1 year ago
@ridgerunner721601 I'm not sure , I think it had something to do with low ratings probably due to the fact that mlb games can be shown anywhere now days , the days of people from states outside georgia having only 1 team to watch on a regular basis are long gone thanks to all the regional networks and satellite tv you can watch more than 1 team a night now, I also heard it had something to do with MLB making stricter rules on who can show what games out of their market or something like that .
Creepingdeathx81 1 year ago
@Creepingdeathx81 I know they have some station out of Chicago that shows or used to show a lot of Cubs games. We couldn't get it in southwest Louisiana though. I didn't care too much though. I never had any use for the Cubs. By the way, who do y'all think will take Cox's place next year? It's hard to believe Bobby won't be back. He's been manager seems like forever and a day.
ridgerunner721601 1 year ago
St. Louis is, was, and always will be - the quintessential baseball city!
grantsinmypants2 2 years ago
Ahhh nice to look back on the "good old days" when baseball players & fans were closer. Thank You KETC for documenting our cities history for all to see.
StLouisEarl 2 years ago
thanks man for all the info. this will help me with my ballparks.
HaloMaster3422 2 years ago
Baseball when it was a game.
Boomer1947 2 years ago
Comment removed
hdtvfan1 2 years ago
surprised this reporter wasn't shot considering where he was
msuguitarman85 3 years ago
Maybe he was Catholic.
Ariamaluum 2 years ago
@msuguitarman85 It's so sad that nearly every big city has become nothing but a haven for crackhead trash and welfare scum.
ridgerunner721601 1 year ago
My Dad pitched in a semi-pro club in Flatbush (Brooklyn) in the late 40's, he was a southpaw pitcher and legend has it, a Browns scout gave him a look. Unfortunately he didn't live long enough for me to ask what happened, obviously he wasn't or didn't sign. But with that said, for my entire life I've been enamored with the Browns. Sportsman's Park looked really beautiful.
ballsmccoy 3 years ago