I've bled Dodger Blue since I was old enough to know what baseball was. I was weaned on Dodger baseball in the 70's and have the fondest memories of baseball in that era. I spent many an afternoon and evening camped out in front of the TV watching my baseball hero's at their craft. The Dodger infield of Garvey, Cey, Russell, and Lopes played together for a record 8 1/2 years.
I'm very sorry to hear that my favorite player when I was growing up, Davey Lopes, has recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer. Not only was Davey one of the best 2nd basemen of his era, he was a very nice man as well. When I was around 10 years old, I wrote him a letter and he responded by sending me a really great postcard. It's an action shot of him running, helmet falling off the back of his head, obviously attempting to steal a base. It's inscribed "To Mike, best wishes always, Davey Lopes". That nice note made a 10 year olds life A- OK!
I was devastated when he was traded to the A's. It was hard to see him in another teams uniform. It was very weird! I liked Steve Sax and eventually got used to him. But it wasn't the same. I went up to DC and watched a Nats game a couple of years ago. I didn't know it at the time, but he was base coaching for the Nats. That was pretty cool, and brought back a lot of memories.
Davey, may God bless you at this time in your life.
2 comments:
Detroit Tiger fan here. It feels good to have good baseball back in Detroit. It broke my heart when Kirk Gibson left the Tigers for LA. I abandon baseball for awhile after that. That was after the 1987 season when most of the 1984 Tiger team left for more money else where.
Thanks for stopping by my blog. I am slow at getting new post. I only do 4-5 a month.
Hello, Richmond Roadie. Thanks for stopping by my blogs. I see here you're a Dodger fan. Ouch, as I'm a life long Giants fan (and most of my life A's fan). I hated Davey Lopes because he was a Dodger, but he was one of the least offensive. I rejoiced when he joined the A's, for obvious reasons, but cried when Alfredo Griffin (my then favorite player) put on the blue. I loathed Sax (one of my top five hated Dodgers, excluding rotund managers, of course). All of this is good natured of course, and I'm sad to hear about Davey's condition.
I see you've been to Candlestick and the Coliseum but not Pac Ball/SBC/AT&T/MarthaStewartLiving Park. I was there last night for an exhibition game vs. Seattle. Monday is the big day for us in Chavez Ravine. May the Dodgers be leading 25-0 and have a no-hitter in the 5th inning before a rainstorm washes it out and then the Giants can win both games of the makeup doubleheader! Just kidding, but not really. Looking forward to back-reading your blog. Peace.
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