Dick Barrie's
Baseball Website

The History of My Interest in Baseball - Why Me?

Why indeed?

Thousands of miles from the scene of the action, living a full life in a land where baseball means zilch, from where did my interest spring?

Basically, I don't really know.

I was always interested in things American - I preferred my films, books and music to come from the western side of the Atlantic as I grew up - but the baseball interest lay dormant until maybe the mid-eighties, when Channel 4 in Britain began to carry World Series reports.

The '86 post-season (play-offs and World Series) would have converted a corpse, of course, and after that I began to pick up baseball books and magazines wherever I could. My interest grew apace.

In 1992 I was at last able to go to a real game - at Wrigley Field, late in the season. Tommy LaSorda brought his Dodgers for me to see, and I recall everything - the ivy, the singing, Mike Piazza's big-league debut and two huge homers by Ryne Sandberg. It was everything I had dreamed it would be.

Next game I nearly saw was in 1994, a minor-league affair in Raleigh-Durham, en-route to Chicago after a business call in Greenville, N.C. I was pretty keen to see this one, as the Kevin Costner "Bull Durham" film was not long out in the UK (the baseball scenes in it were nearly as exciting as Kevin and Susan Sarandon in the bath) but the rain beat the Bulls that evening, and I was restricted to a few damp photographs and a t-shirt. However, when I got to Chicago, I was taken to the new Comiskey Park to see the White Sox entertain the Mariners. A bit antiseptic, I thought, too far from the action.

I had the good fortune to be in Nevada when Cal Ripken Jr broke Lou Gehrig's streak, and watched the event live on TV. I decided there and then I wanted to see this man play!

Wrigley again next trip (1996) and the Giants. More fun to be had at Wrigley than Comiskey, I'd observe. Same trip I was in Louisville, and caught their Redbirds in action - although for that one, I hadn't realised Indiana and Kentucky were in different time zones, and turned up during the fourth innings! Ho hum.

Another trip to Chicago came in 1997, but I set my sights on Milwaukee this time, and caught Cal and the Orioles at an end-of-season match in County Stadium. To be honest, it wasn't great - and Cal left the game after the third innings. I felt a little cheated.

Not so the following summer at Tampa Bay, when I timed a visit to the brand-new Devil Rays' dome to coincide with Baltimore again - and this time Cal lifted my spirits by lifting the ball over the left-field wall to win it! Same trip I caught minor league action at Orlando and Kissimmee - I do like the minors, when I can get close up to the action, and hear what's going on!

Last game I've managed was nearly two years ago, while in Boston for business - needless to say, Fenway Park was on the list of historical sites to be visited! I saw the Sox against the A's and enjoyed the feeling of history in the park - this was where Ruth pitched, and Williams batted .400! No doubt about it!

So here I am, a baseball nut stuck in Scotland, with a total of six major-league games watched in my lifetime - so far.

Watch this space!