#MondayMemories: Rehabs, Lackawanna County Stadium & More!
Seeing a future star at the Triple-A level is always exciting. When I was 10 years old, I attended my first Minor League Baseball game — several years after attending my first Major League Baseball game at Shea Stadium.
Growing up in Brooklyn, NY in the 1980s, we didn’t have the minors nearby (the Brooklyn Cyclones were not a franchise yet). When my family moved us to Pennsylvania, Minor League Baseball was very near. Living in Tobyhanna, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Red Barons were about 30 minutes or so away — which was close enough for us to attend many games each summer. I have a lot of fond memories of Lackawanna County Stadium in the 1990s and seeing future visiting stars such as Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Todd Hundley, Liván Hernandez, Roy Halladay, and many others.
My favorite seats were the bleachers down the first base line. There was always a good chance to catch a foul ball — which I did on a number of occasions.
I have so many great memories of that stadium — including getting the opportunity to have a press pass on a number of occasions, getting to meet Tug McGraw, and many others — but I’ll leave those stories and photos for a future blog post.
I attended the 1995 Triple-A Baseball All-Star Game there and that was a day I’ll never forget. There was a young shortstop named Derek Jeter, who was on that International League team. As a Mets fan, I was more thrilled to see Jason Isringhausen, who started the game for the IL squad. “Izzy” was warming up in the outfield and let one fly just before the game. The ball ended up in my dad’s hand as he made a nice catch. When asked for the ball back, my dad only agreed to give it back to them if Isringhausen would sign it — he did after he was warming up. Pretty cool.
While it was always great to see the youngsters, there’s certainly something to be said about seeing major league stars — especially those down for a rehab assignment.
Last week, I wrote in my weekly Flashback Fridays segment about some of the players that have rehabbed with the Charlotte Knights over the years. You can read that story here: Flashback Fridays: Rehab Assignments.
One of the more memorable rehab assignments I saw as a fan was when Darryl Strawberry rehabbed with the Columbus Clippers. As a Mets fan — and a big fan of Strawberry — it was so amazing to see him so close. Strawberry was so accommodating to the fans and signed a bunch of autographs. He signed one for me that day, which I still have! Of course, many years later, I had the opportunity to bring Strawberry to BB&T Ballpark. My interview with him is one of my favorite interviews of my career.
WATCH→ Darryl Strawberry Visits BB&T Ballpark.
Is there a major leaguer that you saw on a rehab assignment? Let me know when and where.
