Live for the Moment

[medric822]

I figured I'd start this topic becase I was talking to a friend of mine at school Thursday, and he said something that made me smile.

Two years ago, I was a sophmore playing baseball for the JV team. I didn't play much because my lack of speed and because my parents were't teachers or any other imporant person in my town. It was the second game of the season, and I pinch hit in the 6th inning. We were playing a team called Riverside. They were the best team in the league, usually with undefeated records. I was batting, and I was nervous, because last season I was 0-6 with 5k's, and I was 0-1 this season. I went to 0-2 and afraid that I would keep the streak going when the pitcher would up and threw. I dont even remember seeing the ball when I swung, but I felt the "Ding" and I felt the ball give. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the ball and it looked like it was shot out of a cannon! I was so amazed that I nearly tripped on my way to first. Although I was held to a single, if it wasn't for my stumble, it would have been a double. I was throw out at second on the next play on a passed ball, but since I felt I was safe, I argued with the umpire (but I was safe ). People told me that it was so close to being a homer, that it bounced right in front of the fence.

Well, this friend of mine and me were talking, and he said that they still talked about that shot of mine. He said that I hit it further than he's ever hit it. It made me feel proud, and it made me sad. Sad that I'll unfortunately miss this season. .

Well, now it's someone else's turn to tell their best baseball moment. Have fun!

[D-Unit]

I was 11 and in my second to last season of Little League. I was never a great hitter, but that year I was hitting like .600. I was hitting shots to the fence all the time (I think it was 220 feet all around), and my teammates nagged me for never hitting a home run of all of them, though I had like 5 triples (Yes I am fast, I don't know why I remember that.) On the last game of the season, I still didn't hit one out. But in my second at bat, this kid was throwing 60 mph, which is pretty fast for Little League. The first pitch I saw I freakin' smacked to dead center field, and since I was like 4 feet tall and skinny as a string bean, the kids were all playing shallow. The ball fell two feet short of the fence, it hit the ground and just died since it was wet. I ran my *** off and got an inside the park homerun before the ball came into the infield.

And the same year, I was my team's best pitcher. (I know it doesn't sound realistic, but I even have this one on tape). I was late to my game and made it while the team was warming up, like throwing grounders while the pitcher warms up. But no one was on the mound. My coach yells "Get on the mound, the game's starting!" So I ran onto the field, threw my warmup pitches, and the game was on. I struck out 13 kids in six innings, probably me best game ever. But the other team's pitcher struck out 13 too, and they won since some kid on my team had every ball hit to him and somehow caused like 10 errors.

It's on VCR though, I don't think I can put it up or anything. But I was pwning them. It was funny because I was like 4 feet tall with huge glasses and a mullet.

[ronmexico]

I was at game 5 of the Braves v Mets NLCS in 1999. It sounds like an ordinary playoff game, but it wasn't. This was the game that had the well known "Grand Single". It was the bottom of the 15th inning and Robin Ventura with the bases loaded stepped up and swatted one out of the park. In his ecstasy he jumped up and down and never got too far past first base, as he was mobbed by the Mets. The stadium was rocking, unknowingly to have the winning run walked in the next day for the Braves by Kenny Rogers. It was the best time I had at a baseball game, from the 1st inning to the 14th inning stretch and beyond. :D

[medric822]

I was at game 5 of the Braves v Mets NLCS in 1999. It sounds like an ordinary playoff game, but it wasn't. This was the game that had the well known "Grand Single". It was the bottom of the 15th inning and Robin Ventura with the bases loaded stepped up and swatted one out of the park. In his ecstasy he jumped up and down and never got too far past first base, as he was mobbed by the Mets. The stadium was rocking, unknowingly to have the winning run walked in the next day for the Braves by Kenny Rogers. It was the best time I had at a baseball game, from the 1st inning to the 14th inning stretch and beyond.

Um.... I was kinda looking for a you in the game expierance, lol, but this was cool too!

[ronmexico]

Um.... I was kinda looking for a you in the game expierance, lol, but this was cool too!

I understand now...

I was (JV) pitching and I had some terrible day, I hit three batters out of four, which is funny cause I had never hit, and still haven't hit anyone else. I pitch for precision, cause I only throw about 75, and I like to brush people back, but never hit them. These pitches were aiming to be outside corner, but I guess since I was brought in from SS in the middle of an inning, instead of starting, I was off a bit. So since I hit the three batters, I had to be shoved in RF because they brought in the RF to pitch and I figured my day was essentially done. The first ball hit went right at me, and it looked as if I wasn't gonna get to it. I caught it shoestring style, and then I looked to throw the ball in. The first baseman was already in position to cut off the throw home, so there was no one covering first, where the runner had taken off. I ran in about 120 feet and tagged 1st base myself, for the unassisted 9-9 doubleplay.

Another moment would be an unassisted triple play at SS that I turned this year. Line drive hit right over me, or so everyone thought. I snagged it, came down crouching, and it looked like I didn't get it. I tagged the runner who was going from 2nd to 3rd, and the runner who was going from 1st to 2nd. He kept running for some reason, and it was all done.

Those are my revised best moments.

[Yankee4Life]

I've had some, but remember, mine took place many years ago. I was a lot faster then and my knees were no problem at all.

The game that comes to mind was when I was playing centerfield. I played center every once in awhile and I really enjoyed it out there. Well, in this game we were winning 7 - 6 and the other guys were up in the last of the seventh, the final inning. They had runners on second and third with two out and their first baseman got into one and belted one out to deep left center field. I was off and running at full speed and here comes the ball. I stick my arm up and catch it but as I lifted my arm up to catch the ball, I felt myself step on the warning track. So as I caught it, I took two more steps and then the wall introduced itself to my right shoulder and I went down hard. I held on to the ball and the game was over. It didn't matter to me if my right shoulder got hit, since I am a left handed thrower.

Later on I was told by my teammates that they saw I had a good bead on the ball but they were worried when I hit the wall because they thought my head hit it too, but that didn't happen.

[Yankee4Life]

Wait, I got another one that I just recalled. I was involved in a triple play once, and it was a triple play that never should have taken place.

Here's what happened: I'm pitching and the first two guys get on. First and second and no one out. The next guy hits a hard hit grounder to shortstop. He picks the ball up and tags the runner trying to get to third base. I don't know why he got a bad jump, he just did. ONE OUT. The shortstop tosses the ball to the second baseman for the force at second. TWO OUTS. I notice that the guy who hit the ball is loafing down the line. This guy who hit the grounder was the original Alfonso Soriano before we heard of that guy. I yell at the second baseman to throw the ball to first and we ended up getting the triple play. THREE OUTS! Nice.

[JoeyMcM93]

This year, Pony League, regular season, game number eleven. Our top pitcher Steve Smith is on the mound to face a formidable A's team. We begin the game by shutting down the A's on ten pitches. Next inning our leadoff man, Steve Smith, steps up. First pitch of the game, BOOM! Home run. We lead 13-1 in the third inning, three home runs had been hit for our team. I step up to the plate in the fourth and on a 2-1 count and jack a three run bomb over the left-center field fence. We head in to the bottom of the fifth leading 21-1. We destroyed their pitching that inning and made the score 38-4. On to the sixth, still leading by a considerable 38-9. We make it 43 and then go down one, two, three. We give up three runs in the top of the seventh to make it 43-12. Since we were the home team we didn't get a chance to score anymore. We broke the Santa Cruz Pony League runs record for one team and for two teams. The A's pitched eight of their twelve players.

Final Score - Royals 43, A's, 12. Combined our team hit seven home runs, with no one going deep twice. The A's didn't get more than two bases on a hit. I was 4-4 with two doubles, a single, and a homer. Of course, the next week we get trounced by the number one team, the Cubs, 12-3. :smile: Best game ever.

[ronmexico]

LOL, they don't have a mercy rule in your league?

[Sandlot]

My fav. baseball moment was when I won MVP in a tournament in which we were champs!

[cybernetic]

I never played baseball too seriously. .probably best for me was when I was playing a game with some kids from school when I was about 15. I came up with the bases loaded with 2 out and tripled to clear the bases.

[medric822]

Cool. These are all awesome stories.

[drbeep97]

i got 5 stories

13 years old: legion league championship... pitched 6 innings and i had about 12 K's but we were loosing 3-0 after 5 1/2 (we were the home team)... bottom of the sixth we were down 3-1 and i was up w/ the bases loaded and i hit a bases clearing double to left field to take the lead 4-3. we scored 2 more runs w/ 2 outs and we won 6-5.

10 year old all-stars: we play in a 16 team district for all-stars and we lost our 2nd game 8-7 in extras. We had to win a bunch of games straight (i think 7 or . We had a bunch of back and forth games near the end and ended up winning the whole thing and i batted around .650 on the tournament. We did the same thing 12u year (cept i only batted about .550)

14u USSA semi-final game: 9 inning complete game, 14 K, W for me. we won 2-1. we were down 1-0 since the second inning and our 3 and 4 hitters hit back to back doubles in the top of the 7th to make it a 1-1 tie. They did the same thing in the 9th and we won 2-1

16u Memorial day tourny: My travel team was 3-1 heading into the playoffs. we were the only 15u team there. we played our 16u team in the first round and came back to beat them 6-4 (down 4-1) to go to round 2. Got passed that team 5-2. We played the only team who had beaten us (13-0 4 inning game) and hardly ever lost. We came out w/ fire and took a 10-2 lead into the 7th. Me and our 2 hitter tore it up (7-10 2 walks, 4 RBI and 6 runs combined). In the 7th... they came back to make it 10-8 but our closer struck out the last batter and we won the 'ship and lived happily ever after

JV baseball: i was pitching and we were down 4-3 in the 6th. I lined out to left field for my first out of the game and it woulda been a walk-off had the kid not caught it. Anyway... the junior hadn't had a hit all season (about 0-15 at this point) and he lined a double to tie the game. Then, i was still pitching in the 8th and gave up a lead-off single. Coach came out and told me that he wanted to put a releiver in. i told him that i could go one more. he said "ok" and i got the next kid to ground into a double play and the next kid flew out. Bottom of the inning i was up w/ 1 out and thought i had hit another walk off but this time the CF caught it. 2 batters later we had guys on 1st and 2nd and the junior hit a bomb over the RF head for the walk-off win.

13u AAU round 2 game: down 2-1 in the 6th and their was rain. alot of it. It was almost called but the rain let up a little bit so game on. Bot 6... i'm playing 2nd. runner on first and the batter hit a shot to right field. The guy from first was going to score but the kid who hit the ball went to third and me and the right fielder had a perfect relay to third to cut down the runner before the run scored. best throw i've ever made. Top 7 bases loaded (they walked our 3 hitter to get to me) and i hit a base clearing double to make it 4-2 and we won the game 4-2.

i got alot more... but i don't wanna make this too long

[drbeep97]

just remembered another sweet one

indoor stikball winter league: my team went down 12-1 in 4 innings. Games were normally about 11-9 or something like that but 12-1 was a huge lead to over come. We kept chipping away at the lead and we were down 13-10 in the bottom of the 9th. we had 2 guys on and our 4 hitter hit a homer to tie it up. then i came up again (we only had 4 players... one for each of the infield positions... they gave you a pitcher and catcher) and got out, but we were tied 13-13. They played the international tie breaker which is 1 out man on 2nd. We got out of it. In our half i was the runner on 2nd. Our 2 hitter hit a single up the middle and on the throw to first i rounded 3rd and came home barely beating the throw for the win

this was ironic because the night before i watched the indians record comeback against the mariners (i forget when) on ESPN classic so the whole game i was thinking "we're gonna come back... we're gonna come back" and we did. awesome

[yhw4life]

I have some stories. I played baseball for about 10 years or so..so I have a few.

Some were in t-ball..so its like..eh..not gonna mention.

I pitched like...5 perfect innings or so a few years ago.

Then my senior year of high school(last year), it was the championship game of a tournament, and my arm was really messed up, pretty painful. But I said I could probably pitch a couple innings..so I went out there to close it out. Because of the pain, I could basically throw 2 pitches...fastball and cutter. But amazingly enough, I struck out 4 of the 6 I face to close out the game.

Of course..I later went on to have surgery on my shoulder, and still haven't recovered 100% of the way..so while it was an amazing experience..who knows what its gonna cost me.

Then this was easily the best experience of my life. The Dodgers run a contest once a year called 'think blue week'. You get the chance to like..take batting practice..read the lineups..sing national anthem...batboy for an innings..groundskeeping..etc.

So you write a 100 word essay on why you deserve to win. So I wrote a little thing, and I get back from school and see a message on my phone. I listen and its someoen from the Dodgers saying I was picked to pitchin the bullpen.

So few weeks later, I go to Dodger stadium....go into the bullpen and get to pitch in the bullpen, with Jose Lima giving me tips and stuff. SO for a good..15-20 minutes..I got to pitch. AMAZING.

later got introduced on the field, was on the big screen..and got 4 free tickets and saw the Dodgers get rocked by the Giants haha.

[medric822]

lol, I have to say that this was one of the coolest stories that I have ever heard!

[SeanRobinson]

Just came across this...

So a bit of background to this is that I played little league until the 5th grade, but did machine-pitch twice--so was basically held back. I was a good 3-5 inches shorter than everyone else in the league and highly uncoordinated, which meant that, after a while, I came to despise the game. Didn't really get back into it until a few years ago. So that explains why this story comes from when I was 7...

So like I said, I was REALLY short and not that fast. Really not intimidating at all, and it was really easy to get me out. This time, though, something was different. The guy pitches, I line it to short (I think), SS picks it up and tosses to the first baseman. I'm clearly going to be out, but the 1B doesn't put his foot on the bag. So I put my head down and outright charge at the kid...the shocked look on his face as he dropped the ball, making me safe, was priceless.

[bushywhacker]

I once had a pitching and hitting performance for the ages...

Pitching: 23 k's, 1 hitter, 9 inning complete game

Hitting: 5-5, 2 HRs ,7 RBIs

My best game ever!

I was so on pitching that the CFer and I decided he would call the game from where he stood. So, after every pitch I'd turn around and glance at him. Glove straight up in the air = FB, Glove straight out to the side = CB, Glove straight down at his side = CU.

Ahhh, those were the days.

[ELDoro]

--13-14 year old league: score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the last inning with bases loaded, both teams undefeated. I get a single right back up the middle to win the game and we end up not losing at all that year.

---Middle School (8th grade) 4-4 with 2 Hrs and 2 doubles against our rivals and many friends.

---Varsity HS (junior year)--- shutting out our rivals with a 7inning complete game shutout and 12ks and allowing 2 hits.

---Varsity HS (senior year)-- again against our rivals and a chance for the opposing coach to tally the most ohio high school wins ever. We won 4-3. I had 3 RBIs and 1 run scored, including a 2 out 2 RBI hit that put us ahead. I also had two diving plays in the hole at SS and they were both shown on the local news that night

---college--- first HR in my first college AB leading off the game

[Sidewinder]

Having played pro ball until I was 27, I have quite a few "moments", but the one that probably set the wheels in motion for me was when I was 8, my first year in Little League(we didnt have T-ball back then). It was 1970 and I had joined the Junior Angels Fan Club of the California Angels. That allowed you to go to X amount of Angel games, sitting in the 3rd deck GA seats. But we didnt care, as my friends and I got to go to alot of Angels games on our own. The Angels had opened the BigA and moved to Anaheim in 1966, when I was about 5, so you could say I grew up with the Angels. Anyways, our folks would drop us off at the stadium and we would be on our own, with our gloves. After the game we would wait to be picked up out on the grass by the street and play 'Pickle". Fun times.

Anyways, one early morning in May, my Mom gets awakened by a phone call and thinking it's a telemarketer, she almost hangs up on them! But, it turns out to be an Angel's rep who informs her that they have a Junior Angel drawing every month to be a guest of the Angels for a game...and I had won!

So, my family and I went to the Big A, where we dined in the Stadium Club, then were seated in the Press Box(no luxury boxes then). During batting practice, they took me only down on the field, where I got to go in the dugout/clubhouse and meet some of the players. They took a picture of me with Sandy Alomar Sr and Jim Fregosi, which I still have somewhere to this day! Of course, I had my Mets Little League uniform on the whole time, which was cool at that time, cuz the Mets had won the World Series the October before. Curiously, Fregosi would be traded to the Mets for Nolan Ryan in 1972.

The Angels also gave me a bunch of souvenier items to take home, too. And then, during the middle of the game, simultaneously on the Big A scoreboard in print and over the PA, the club announces that my family and I are guests of the Angels that night and congratulates me for winning the drawing! The Angels take a picture of it and eventually give it to me in a special Angels frame! Actually, I dont remember if I got the pic that evening or was sent to me a few days later. I still have it somewhere. I saw it in the last few years in storage.

But for an 8 year old kid who loved baseball and the Angels(and still do), it was a very special memory. One that would push me to go to the first two games of the Angels first and only World Series in 2002!

[medric822]

Cool story, every kids dream too.

[Tigers94]

I was playing second and a really slow kid was up at bat and there was a kid on first. He hit it straight up the middle and I dove for it, got it and I was right next to first, so tagged second base and got to my knees and threw the kid out at first.

This happened last year in a game against the best team in my league.(At the time, we were 5-3 and they were 7-1, we ended up beating them in the championship game 5-2.) :grin: