I Remember Baseball

As I grow older,
committing names to new faces
seems a constant struggle, 
yet there are still many things I can easily remember:

I remember being fascinated

watching Willie McCovey at the plate 

and wondering just how nervous 

he made the pitcher.

I remember how Willie Mays 

sometimes wouldn’t take 2nd base 

so they would have to pitch to McCovey.

I don’t remember anyone explaining to me 

what “The Say Hey Kid” meant.

No one had to explain to me 

what “Dirty Al Gallagher” meant.

I remember Dick Dietz

crowding the plate and getting hit by pitches

to get on base. I thought that was awesome.

I remember Candlestick Park 

was always cold and windy.

Nobody cared. You brought a jacket 

and wore a sweater underneath it.

If the Giants were losing 6-0 in the 7th inning,

for $5.00 you could go to the Stadium Club 

and watch it on T.V. and wait for the 

parking lot to empty (it didn’t take long.)

I remember the night Johnnie LeMaster 

replaced the name on his jersey with “Boo”.

I remember thinking that

Chris Speier seemed like a regular guy.

I remember thinking 

Manny Trillo was the best 2nd baseman 

I had ever seen.

***

I remember hating the Oakland A’s 

because I was secretly jealous

of all their great players.

Bill King was their announcer 

and would yell, “Holy Toledo!”

after a great play.

Bill King and Rollie Fingers 

both had handlebar mustaches.

I remember Gene Tenance’s name 

was pronounced ‘Geno Ten-notch-A’

in Italian.

I adopted the Baltimore Orioles 

as my American League team 

because of my jealousy of the Oakland A’s.

The 1970 Baltimore Orioles 

were the last team that had a 

starting rotation with four 20 game winners:

Jim Palmer, Dave McNally, Mike Cuellar, and Pat Dobson.

(That makes for a great bar room trivia question

because everyone always forgets Pat Dobson.)

Brooks Robinson 

was a god.

Boog Powell 

was a mountain.

Frank Robinson 

was a great player.

Frank Robinson 

became a lousy manager.

Earl Weaver 

was a nut

and he loved to beat

Sparky Anderson.

Sparky Anderson

was a nut

and he loved to beat

Earl Weaver.

Those Cincinnati Reds teams

were great and they beat the Dodgers

so I was cool with that.

I remember thinking 

Joe Morgan was the best 2nd baseman 

I had ever seen.

***

I remember Jeffrey Leonard 

hitting home runs 

and running the bases 

with “One Flap Down.”

I remember thinking 

we finally have a real lead-off hitter 

when we signed Brett Butler.

I remember disowning Brett Butler

when he signed with the Dodgers.

I remember Will Clark “over modulating” 

Gary Park’s microphone 

after winning the pennant.

I remember Kevin Mitchell 

catching a ball he over-ran with his bare hand 

while smiling with his gold tooth.

I remember trying not to tear up 

when Dave Dravecky made his return 

to pitch at Candlestick Park.

I remember

no one drafted Bob Brenly 

out of college.

I remember thinking

Matt Williams would never

learn how to hit a curve ball.

He finally did.

I remember thinking 

Robby Thompson was the best 2nd baseman 

I had ever seen.

***

I remember Steve Carlton and Randy Johnson 

came to the Giants chasing wins and strikeouts 

before they retired.

I remember everyone knew 

Darryl Strawberry as a Giant 

wouldn’t work out.

It didn’t.

I remember being very excited

about the 1989 Bay Bridge World Series.

I remember being surprised

that nobody else in the country was excited 

about the 1989 Bay Bridge World Series.

I remember thinking 

we had a real shot

at beating Canseco, McGwire, and Dave Stewart

in the 1989 Bay Bridge World Series.

Not even close.

I remember being at the 2002 World Series,

Giants and Angels, game 6 in Anaheim

with my father, a long time San Francisco Seals and Giants fan.

I don’t want to talk about it.

I remember being confused 

that I was the only one in the Men’s room 

at Pac Bell Park until I heard the crowd 

cheering a Barry Bonds home run.

I remember looking at my girlfriend

with tears in my eyes when we won

the World Series in 2010.

She thought I had lost my mind.

I remember reading the opening day lineup

every year since I was a kid and thinking

“Hey, I think we might have a shot at it this year!”

***

It seems I will always have my memories 

of watching a long list of great players like 

Ozzie Smith, Mike Schmidt, Reggie Jackson

Carl Yastrzemski, and Hank Aaron,

 

and I guess I shouldn’t be surprised

how I just remembered

both Roberto Clemente 

and Thurman Munson

died in small airplane crashes.

They say it’s the new memories 

that are hardest to establish

as you get older,

so I still read my team’s box score each morning,

review the lineup before each game,

and try to commit to memory

the names of our backup catchers

because you never know

when that might come in handy

in some bar room discussion. 

Ken Owen July 2026     Van Niddy Press