My first ever opening day , I was 11 years old it was 1979, the Orioles were hosting the Chicago White Sox, I begged my mother to let me take the bus down to Memorial Stadium...A bunch of us were going and some of the older neighborhood kids were to supervise the day, lol they were maybe 15 years old, so we felt safe... what was the worst thing that could happen?
Well for starters it was like 30 degrees (much like it is here today) we had arrived at like 11:00 AM for a 3:35 game the windchill was in the 20`s. I wanted to leave before the game even started, it was that cold! The game came and went , I think the Orioles won by a score of like 5-3...But the part, I will never forget was the ride home!!! Most of the kids had split up once we got inside, so it was just me and this older kid , we got on the #3 bus...I had never been on a bus before that day, we had to transfer once we got back downtown so we just hopped on the first #3 bus we saw...The buses were all lined up outside the stadium, so it was no problem finding one....
The problem was once we got on the bus lol! The bus was already full so we had to stand, the bus driver must have got a kickback on patrons lol, he was packing us in like sardines...before I knew it, me and my friend were almost at the back of the bus and as it turned out we were the only white kids on the bus...Finally the bus starts up and we`re on our way...After about 5 minutes these older kids start kicking us, and mainly me...I was the smaller of the two...Well as I said it was my first bus trip, and yes I was scared sh!tless!!! Trying to ignore them , I just prayed it would be over soon....Then the leader of their group which seemed to be the whole back of the bus starts talking to us, I will NEVER forget what he said....He said "this time we`re gonna switch roles, you remember the movie Roots"? (Roots was the popular movie about slavery, that had come out maybe a year or two earlier)" Your gonna be my slave" I jst remember getting slapped, having my hat stolen and getting kicked a few times, the busride seemed to never end, I looked around and no one was about to help us, finally the bus had started thinning out some, so we worked our way back towards the middle and finally right behind the bus driver lol....It wasn`t the greatest memory but I can laugh about it now.
That day didn`t deter me, as I probably ended up riding the bus to the stadium a couple hundred times...I did learn a lesson though, and never had a problem riding the bus again actually, luckily !
Just a memory of some of the crazy things a kid who loved baseball, would do just to get to the ballyard!
[This message was edited by Journeyman on April 04, 2004 at 07:53 PM.]
Well for starters it was like 30 degrees (much like it is here today) we had arrived at like 11:00 AM for a 3:35 game the windchill was in the 20`s. I wanted to leave before the game even started, it was that cold! The game came and went , I think the Orioles won by a score of like 5-3...But the part, I will never forget was the ride home!!! Most of the kids had split up once we got inside, so it was just me and this older kid , we got on the #3 bus...I had never been on a bus before that day, we had to transfer once we got back downtown so we just hopped on the first #3 bus we saw...The buses were all lined up outside the stadium, so it was no problem finding one....
The problem was once we got on the bus lol! The bus was already full so we had to stand, the bus driver must have got a kickback on patrons lol, he was packing us in like sardines...before I knew it, me and my friend were almost at the back of the bus and as it turned out we were the only white kids on the bus...Finally the bus starts up and we`re on our way...After about 5 minutes these older kids start kicking us, and mainly me...I was the smaller of the two...Well as I said it was my first bus trip, and yes I was scared sh!tless!!! Trying to ignore them , I just prayed it would be over soon....Then the leader of their group which seemed to be the whole back of the bus starts talking to us, I will NEVER forget what he said....He said "this time we`re gonna switch roles, you remember the movie Roots"? (Roots was the popular movie about slavery, that had come out maybe a year or two earlier)" Your gonna be my slave" I jst remember getting slapped, having my hat stolen and getting kicked a few times, the busride seemed to never end, I looked around and no one was about to help us, finally the bus had started thinning out some, so we worked our way back towards the middle and finally right behind the bus driver lol....It wasn`t the greatest memory but I can laugh about it now.
That day didn`t deter me, as I probably ended up riding the bus to the stadium a couple hundred times...I did learn a lesson though, and never had a problem riding the bus again actually, luckily !
Just a memory of some of the crazy things a kid who loved baseball, would do just to get to the ballyard!
[This message was edited by Journeyman on April 04, 2004 at 07:53 PM.]
