For the sake of entertainment, let’s assume the world was like it was a couple months ago and all sporting events were as they were before the pandemic.
The scenario: by some stroke of luck, good fortune, or mistake you fall into a large sum of money. Enough money so that all the real important things – the house, college for the kids, buying something real nice for your parents – are taken care of, but not enough money where you’re buying a professional sports franchise or building a family compound for you and all your siblings’ families in Monterey or something. Whatever that sum of money is, there’s enough for you to live out your ultimate sports experience. I’d call it bucket list, but this seems even a bit more out of reach than bucket list stuff. As an example, my sports bucket list includes maintaining a youth baseball field at some point in my life.
I think about my ultimate sports experience every time I drive west on the Bay Bridge, where Oracle (the SF Giants Stadium…so hard to keep up with stadium names these days) is just down and to the left. I can see most of the field from that vantage point, and every single time I drive by, and have the same thought: wouldn’t it be cool to rent out the stadium for a night and have 10 buddies out there hitting, taking grounders, turning double-plays, shagging fly balls? A cooler of beer on both baselines. A bucket of seeds. Hundreds of new pearls (rubbed up, of course). Good music* playing over the loudspeakers.
That is my ultimate sports experience. And since we’re dreaming, I think this would have to take place at Fenway. Yes, Fenway over Wrigley, because the Monster is right there for righties, and it would be super fun to try to play balls off the wall. Plus, for us lefies, Pesky pole is less than 300-feet away.
Maybe the night starts in the evening when the sun is still out, but we have the park for six hours, that way you get both the day and night feel.
That’s my ultimate sport experience. What about you, TOB?
*New topic: songs that need to be removed from the ballpark canon. A teaser: “Centerfield” by John Fogerty needs to go away forever.
TOB: I like the Fenway idea. But I want Centerfield playing ON LOOP all night. That song is beyond reproach. How dare you.
How about you? What’s your ultimate sports experience? Floor seats at the NBA Finals? A college football road trip to all the rivalry games? Playing a round with Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus? Think big.
More Dailies:
- Your favorite baseball cleats
- Greatest game you ever played in
- Glove Rules
- Coaching Unis
- Best Fields/Courts/Venues you’ve every played on
- Favorite players (by decade)
- Best players you played with or against
- Predicting Joe Posnanski’s Top 7 baseball players of all-time.
- Least Favorite Players By Decade
Email: 123sportslist@gmail.com
1-2-3 SPORTS! 
Phil …..Phil. There is no greater baseball song than Center Field. What Casey st the bat? Take me out to the ball game?
Center Field forever SOB
1. The Masters
2. Kentucky Derby
3. Indy 500
Side Note…
I was given “an Ultimate Baseball Experience” in 2008, courtesy of my Bride…
Watching Saturday morning news on a rainy March day, a story came on about ‘08 being the last year of “The House that Ruth Built”. Eileen looked at me and asked, “is that true?”…I told her it was. She left the room, and came back in about 15 minutes, and handed me a sheet of paper,, saying “how does this look?”…It was an itinerary for a trip to NY, when the Yanks and Mets were both in town. It was also the final year for Shea Stadium, and Tom Seaver was (is) one of my heroes…
Long story short…We saw a 14 inning Mets-Cards game, and the Yanks and O’s, along with many non-baseball excursions in the city. We then rented a car, and drove to Boston to watch the Sox and Angels at Fenway (Manny’s last game as a Sox). Nothing topped that before or since, and I don’t know if anything ever will.