Baseball Hall of Fame - 2025 BBWA Class

Major League Baseball announced that Ichiro Suzuki, Billy Wagner, and CC Sabathia have been selected for The National Baseball Hall of Fame for 2025.

So, this gives me an opportunity to add them to my list of the first games I saw Hall of Famers play of manage. I am going to reproduce that list here.

• Dave Winfield, San Diego Padres - 1976-04-18 (1st game) - Astrodome - Houston 4, San Diego 1
• Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton, Philadelphia Phillies - 1979-08-19 - Astrodome, - Philadelphia 3, Houston 2
• Bobby Cox (manager) - Atlanta Braves - 1980-07-12 - Astrodome, - Houston 9, Atlanta 5
• Johnny Bench, Cincinnati Reds, and Nolan Ryan, Houston Astros - 1981-09-15 - Astrodome - Cincinnati 4, Houston 0
• Phil Niekro, Atlanta Braves, and Don Sutton Houston Astros - 1982-06-16 - Astrodome - Atlanta 5, Houston 4
• Tommy Lasorda (manager), Los Angeles Dodgers - 1986-08-14 - Astrodome - Houston 3, Los Angeles 2
• Ted Simmons, Atlanta Braves - 1986-10-05 - Astrodome - Houston 4, Atlanta 1
• Dave Parker, Cincinnati Reds - 1986-10-05 - Astrodome - Cincinnati 11, Houston 3
• Tim Raines, Montreal Expos - 1988-05-01 - Astrodome - Montréal 7, Houston 3
• Ozzie Smith, St. Louis Cardinals - 1988-05-31 - Astrodome - St. Louis 9, Houston 7
• Frank Robinson (inducted as player, but appearing as manager) and Cal Ripken, Jr., Baltimore Orioles Tony LaRussa (manager), Oakland Athletics - 1989-04-27 - Oakland-Alameda Coliseum - Oakland 9, Baltimore 4
• Sparky Anderson (manager) and Alan Trammell, Detroit Tigers - 1989-04-30 - Oakland-Alameda Coliseum - Detroit 7, Oakland 2
• Joe Torre (manager), St. Louis Cardinals - 1991-08-30 - Candlestick Park - San Francisco 8, St. Louis 3
• Rickey Henderson and Dennis Eckersley, Oakland Athletics, and Edgar Martinez, Seattle Mariners - 1989-07-30 - Oakland-Alameda Coliseum - Oakland 5, Seattle 3
• Craig Biggio, Houston Astros - 1990-06-01 - Candlestick Park - San Francisco 6, Houston 5
• Jeff Bagwell, Houston Astros - 1991-07-02 - Candlestick Park - Houston 8, San Francisco 4
• Tony Gwynn, San Diego Padres - 1991-07-05 - Candlestick Park - San Diego 4, San Francisco 2
• Harold Baines, Oakland Athletics - 1991-07-12 - Oakland-Alameda Coliseum - Baltimore 6, Oakland 2
• Eddie Murry and Gary Carter, Los Angeles Dodgers - 1991-08-09 - Candlestick Park - San Francisco 1, Los Angeles 0
• Barry Larkin, Cincinnati Reds - 1991-08-16 - Candlestick Park - Cincinnati 5, San Francisco 0
• Roberto Alomar, Toronto Blue Jays - 1992-10-12 - Oakland-Alameda Coliseum - Oakland 6, Toronto 2
• Ken Griffey, Jr., Seattle Mariners - 1993-04-27 - Kingdome - Seattle 4, Cleveland 0
• Kirby Puckett, Minnesota Twins - 1993-08-14 (1st game) - Oakland-Alameda Coliseum- Minnesota 5, Oakland 1
• Wade Boggs, New York Yankees - 1994-04-30 - Oakland-Alameda Coliseum - New York Yankees 7, Oakland 5
• Ryan Sandberg, Chicago Cubs and Mike Piazza, Los Angeles Dodgers - 1994-05-24 - Dodger Stadium - Chicago Cubs 2, Los Angeles 0
• Jim Leyland (manager), Pittsburgh Pirates - 1994-05-03 - Mile High Stadium - Colorado 6, Pittsburgh 4
• Mike Mussina and Lee Smith, Baltimore Orioles - 1994-06-06 - Kauffman Stadium - Baltimore 4, Kansas City 2
• Ivan Rodriguez and Adrian Beltre, Texas Rangers - 1994-06-08 - The Ballpark at Arlington - Texas 6, New York 5
• Jim Thome, Cleveland Indians - 1994-06-11 - County Stadium - Cleveland 5, Milwaukee 2
• Frank Thomas, Chicago White Sox - 1994-06-13 - Comiskey Park II - Chicago White Sox 1, Oakland 0
• Paul Molitor, Toronto Blue Jays - 1994-06-15 - Jacobs Field - Cleveland 4, Toronto 3
• Greg Maddux and Fred McGriff, Atlanta Braves - 1994-06-27 - Le Stade Olympique - Montréal 7, Atlanta 2
• Andre Dawson, Boston Red Sox - 1994-06-29 - Fenway Park - New York Yankees 4, Boston 3
• Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres - 1994-07-22 (2nd game) - Veterans Stadium - San Diego 7, Philadelphia 4
• Billy Wagner, Houston Astros - 1996-06-14 - 3Com Park at Candlestick Point - Houston 9, San Francisco 1
• Derek Jeter and Mariano Rivera - 1997-04-05 - Oakland-Alameda Coliseum - New York Yankees 10, Oakland 5
• Larry Walker, Colorado Rockies - 1997-06-15 - Oakland-Alameda Coliseum - Oakland 5, Colorado 2
• Chipper Jones, Atlanta Braves - 1998-08-08 - 3Com Park at Candlestick Point - Atlanta 14, San Francisco 6
• Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners - 2001-04-11 - Network Associates Coliseum  - Seattle 3, Oakland 0
• Pedro Martinez, Boston Red Sox - 2001-06-06 - Network Associates Coliseum - Boston 5, Oakland 4
• David Ortiz, Minnesota Twins - 2001-07-24 - Network Associates Coliseum - Oakland 7, Minnesota 6
• John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves - 2001-08-17 - Pacific Bell Park - Atlanta 2, San Francisco 1
• Todd Helton, Colorado Rockies - 2001-09-01 - Pacific Bell Park - San Francisco 2, Colorado 1
• Scott Rolen, St. Louis Cardinals - 2003-07-07 - Pacific Bell Park - San Francisco 5, St. Louis 1
• Roy Halladay, Toronto Blue Jays - 2003-08-17 - Network Associates Coliseum - Oakland 7, Toronto 3
• Vlad Guerrero, Anaheim Angels - 2004-04-24 - Network Associates Coliseum - Anaheim 6, Oakland 3
• CC Sabathia, Cleveland Indians - 2004-09-11 - Network Associates Coliseum - Oakland 5, Cleveland 4
• Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins - 2005-08-23 - McAfee Coliseum - Oakland 5, Minnesota 2

It's fun to do the search for these guys in my game logs!

Rickey Henderson (1958-2024)

Rickey Henderson was one of the all-time great players. I did not get to see him play live that much, but I did have a memorable encounter with him.

In 2005, my wife and my baby girl went to see a traveling tour of the National Baseball Hall of Fame at the Oakland Museum on a Saturday afternoon. The exhibit was packed. Basically, there was a line snaking through the entire exhibit. It was a really cool exhibit with lots to see.

While we were looking at a display, a docent was bringing somebody through the museum not in the line. Initially annoyed, I looked up, and there was Rickey Henderson! The docent was giving him a personal tour. He told her that he had never had time to learn much about the history of the game; he was too busy trying to play it. He seemed particularly fascinated at the exhibit of a mechanical scoreboard device where somebody would recreate a game based on telegraph signals when the team was on the road.

I looked over at my wife, who had our almost-toddler in her arms, and they both were staring at Rickey. My wife looked every bit as star-struck as I was. Rickey saw my daughter, and said, "Oh, and who is this cutey?", and walked over to both of them, and said "Goochey-goochey-coo!" and reached out and tickled my daughter, who giggled. He said, "That's a beautiful baby!" to my wife, then waved "bye" to the baby and moved on.

Later, as we were nearing the end of the tour, Rickey was still talking to the docent. My wife told me to hold the baby, and dug around in the baby backpack for the Sharpie she always had. She then took the baby over to Rickey, and said, "Excuse me, Mr. Henderson, would you sign the back of my daughter's onesie?", and he said, "Of course!", took the pen, and signed it. He smiled at the baby again, waved, and then left the museum. We were on Cloud 9 the rest of the weekend.

Appendix

My wife has a cousin, who collects memorabilia. They had not talked in a while. She called him, and he recognized the Caller ID, and answered, "OK, who'd you get?"

He said that Rickey's signature was difficult to get, and he normally did not sign things. The cousin sent us some memorabilia and baseball cards to make a shadow box display with. We'll get around to that someday...

My Favorite Astrodome Memory

In this year of the 50th anniversary of the opening of the Harris County Domed Stadium, aka, the Astrodome, the Larry Dierker Chapter of the Society of American Baseball Research is calling for memories about the place. This is my entry.

My family moved to Houston in the mid-70s, and I fell in love with the Astrodome. It was a magic place to me, where you could go see baseball and be comfortable. Our house did not have central air, and the Astrodome was a great place to get away from the heat.

1979 cemented my love of the Astros, although 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1986 taught me that baseball in pain.

I moved to the Bay Area in 1988. In 1994, I embarked on a stadium tour. That summer I saw 27 out of the 28 ballparks. But the game in the Astrodome was special.

It was July 18, 1994, a lazy Monday night in Houston. I had almost a dozen friends and family with me, as we sat in the second deck behind home plate.

St. Louis led 11-0 after three innings. Huh. Time for beer I guess.

And then, Houston showed signs of life. In the 4th, with one out, Luis Gonzalez doubled to center and advanced on a fly ball by Lyle Mouton.  Tony Eusebio batted Gonzalez in with a single to left. Andujar Cedeño doubled, and Eusebio stopped at 3rd. Mike Fielder singled to deep short, scoring Eusebio, and moving Cedeño third. Craig Biggio loaded the bases, but the Astros left them loaded. St. Louis 11, Houston 2.

In the fifth, Jeff Bagwell led off the inning with a home run (which I caught on video), and Cedeño batted in another run with a two-out double. St. Louis 11, Houston 4.

And then the fun started. Here is the sequence:

• Biggio walked.
• Kevin Bass pinch hit for reliever Mike Hampton, and doubled to left, scoring Biggio. (STL 11, HOU 5)
• Cardinals put in a new pitcher, Frank Cimorelli, replacing Allen Watson. Jeff Bagwell popped up. 1 out.
• Ken Caminiti walked; Bass stayed at second.
• Gonzalez singled to left, scoring Bass, Caminiti to 2nd (STL 11, HOU 6)
• Mouton hit by pitch; Caminiti to third; Gonzalez to second.
• Eusebio walked; Caminiti scored; Gonzalez to third; Mouton to 2nd. (STL 11, HOU 7)
• Bryan Eversgard replaced Cimorelli at pitcher, and Cedeño singled to center, scoring Gonzalez and Mouton. Eusebio advanced to third, and Cedeño went to second when left fielder Ray Lankford overran the ball and it went under his glove. (STL 11, HOU 9)
• Felder then tripled to center, clearing the bases. (HOU 11, STL 11)
• Biggio hit an infield single, and Felder had to stay at 3rd.
• Bass singled to right, scoring Felder, with Biggio moving to second (HOU 12, STL 11)
• Steve Dixon replaced pitcher Eversgard, and Biggio stole 3rd. Bagwell walked, reloading the bases.
• Caminiti singled to left, scoring Biggio, and Bass, with Bagwell stopping at second. (HOU 14, STL11).
• Gonzalez walked, moving Bagwell and Caminiti to second.
• Mouton plated Bagwell with a sacrifice fly to right, advancing Caminiti, (HOU 15, STL 11)
• Eusebio closed out this amazing inning hitting a ground ball fielder's choice.

In the inning, Astros had 11 runs on 7 hits, 5 walks, one stolen base, a hit batter, and one Cardinals error. What fun.

St. Louis hit a meaningless home run in the 9th, so the final score was 15-12.

It was a truly horrible birthday for St. Louis manager, Joe Torre. SABR has this article about it.

When I did this trip 31 years ago, I did a daily log on my very lame personal website, a web log, one might say, or one might shorten it to blog. During the Pandemic in 2020, I recreated this blog day-by-day, and I added what few pictures and videos I had to them. You can find that write-up here: https://sydneyrandall.blogspot.com/2020/07/baseball-trip-replay-day-56-july-18-1994.html.

Appendix

This is not the only time I saw a team blow an 11-run lead. In 2002, I saw a team blow an 11-run lead, only to win in the bottom of the 9th on a home run. That game is much more famous; the Oakland A's won their 20th in a row, and the game was immortalized in the Moneyball book and movie.

I am one lucky fan!

2025 Those who have passed

The following is a set of people who were my friends, or who were somewhat famous and influenced me in some way. No other comments provided.

Friends

Jackie Lacanal

Mike Murillo

Ladd Turner

Teachers

Lawrence Anderson

Music

Jerry Coker

Claire Daly

Quincy Jones

Les McCann

Mojo Nixon

Seiji Ozawa

David Sanborn

Peter Schickele

Athletics

Billy Bean

Orlando Cepeda

Wayne Graham

Rickey Henderson

Whitey Herzog

Willie Mays

Dikembe Mutombo

Pete Rose

O.J. Simpson

Luis Tiant

Fernando Valenzuela 

Broadway/Hollywood

John Amos

Adam Canto

Dabney Coleman

Shannon Doherty

Teri Garr

James Earl Jones

Kris Kristopherson

Linda Lavin

Martin Mull

Bob Newhart

Chita Rivera

Richard Simmons

Maggie Smith

Donald Sutherland

Media

Phil Donahue

Charles Osgood

Politics

Jimmy Carter

Tech

Thomas Kurtz

Dave Mills

Nicklaus Wirth

Misc

Ruth Westheimer