Dreams From My Childhood

I know the exact date of my earliest childhood memory: Saturday, October 23, 1993.

The Jays jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, for the third time in the series. Paul Molitor added his second World Series home run in the 5th. Dave Stewart held the Phillies to one run through six innings of work. Then, a five run Phillies' 7th, lead by a Lenny Dykstra three-run home run. 6-5 Phillies. A late 8th inning rally with the bottom of the order meant that Rickey Henderson would lead off the ninth for the Jays. Rickey walks, Devo lines out, and Molly drops one into shallow center. Then, it happened...

Of course I don't remember any of these details; I was only five years old at the time. What I do remember is repeatedly asking my parents, "when are the players going to jump on each other?". I was referring to the pile-up celebration that I was told occurs when a team wins the World Series. This is what truly excited me. Jumping on top of a mound of people seemed like the greatest thrill in sports. I guess I was too young to understand the abstract concept "victory".

Everyone knows what happened in 1994, but by then I was primed for fandom. The first time I went to Skydome was 1995. My parents' friends had season tickets in the 200 level along the first base line, and every few weeks my father would get a pair of seats and take me down the yellow line to what had become my favourite place in the world. The Blue Jays only won 56 games that year, but I didn't even notice. What I loved was going to the ballpark, sitting in the afternoon sun under an open roof, and watching the players that had become my heros. Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Lou Gehrig, Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, I didn't know who any of these guys were. But I knew how to impersonate Paul Molitor's batting stance, pitch from the stretch like Juan Guzman, and wear a batting helmet in the field like John Olerud. When I couldn't go to the game, I was watching yesterday's Labatt's Blue Jays Baseball on tape, because I wasn't allowed to stay up and watch it live.

I am writing this blog in dedication to that inner-child in all of us, that just loves the game.