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Sunday, October 01, 2000

After an ominous week of clouds and rain, the April Friday arrived full of brilliant sunshine and blue sky. Opening-day bright. There were better than 51,000 fans in the stands, some arriving as early as 6 in the morning to buy one of 1,000 standing-room only tickets for the afternoon game between the Cardinals and the three-time defending National League East champion Pirates. There were parades and speeches. There were POWs of the Vietnam War to welcome home and a 1972 Eastern Division championship flag to raise.

There were, as every opening day, the dreams of a new season to begin to cultivate.

Strange, though. It was the saddest day in the history of Three Rivers Stadium.

April, 6, 1973.

"One of the most solemn days Three Rivers has had," says Nellie Briles, former Pirates pitcher (1971-73) and now club vice president of special events.

As Three Rivers Stadium closes its gates to baseball in the dusk of this October Sunday, The Guy In the Stands cannot remember the glories and emotional souvenirs of its 31 summers without, too, recalling that one dichotomous day.

It is a thread to which so many others before and after are sewn.

The morning of a new season. The mourning of a new season.

The previous September, Roberto Clemente had stood on second base with career hit No. 3,000. He doffed his cap. The picture of personal triumph. In retrospect, the picture of farewell. Three months later, he was dead.

And just three months after that, on thatApril Friday, club President Dan Galbreath was presented uniform No. 21 to a crying widow -- the last Pirates uniform that would bear the No. 21 -- and Manny Sanguillen, a catcher, started in right field.

Minds could comprehend. Hearts could not. It was all too sudden.

"We were used to see him running out into right field and me to catcher," said Sanguillen. "All of a sudden, I see myself running out there and I was in shock."

"That was the real moment of truth," says Briles. "We all went to Puerto Rico for the funeral, we went through a whole spring training, but for me there was never really full closure until we were opening the season."

The moments were poignant. There was a game to play? Oh, by the way, the Pirates beat the Cardinals, 7-5, that afternoon.

"The void was unmistakable," Briles recalled. "That was the moment it struck me ... when his name was not announced."

"I still think I'll look out [to right field] and see him," Clemente friend Phil Dorsey told the Post-Gazette's Jimmy Jordan that day.

Funny. Twenty-seven years later, boys now men still think the same thing.

Especially so in the twilight of this October day when the Pirates will open wide the family scrap book.

Such is the power of the magic within these places where games are played.

Even on their saddest days.

Especially on days like today.

From the archives

Here's one from the Choose-Your-Words-Carefully Dept. A line from a Post-Gazette editorial the morning Three Rivers Stadium opened: "This facility is the last word in comfort and convenience."

So then, this makes PNC Park a $200 million postscript?

Justice for all

Frank Thomas. Yes. Jason Giambi. Yes. Probably the frontrunners for American League MVP. But The Guy can't understand why pundits never mention the Yankees' David Justice (.287, 41 HRs, 118 RBIs overall, .308, 20 HRs, 60 RBIs with New York). Perhaps it's a coincidence, but the Yankees, on the brink of their fifth AL East title in seven years, were muddling at 38-35 and three games back of Toronto when he was acquired June 29.

Damn reporters

The Guy never thought he'd ever have reason to borrow from Britney Spears, but "Oops! We did it again."

Carl Everett's problems with his manager, his teammates, the fans in Boston?

It's all the media's fault. Reporters printed lies about what happened before that doubleheader with the Indians 10 days ago. So set us straight, Carl.

"I don't set straight anything that people lie about," he told reporters last Saturday, a day after being booed in a pinch-hitting appearance. "I let you soak in your lies. ...

"Those reporters want the fans to be negative to me. That's their only goal in life because they're miserable people."

On a roll

Who's hot? The records of the playoff teams -- and possible playoff teams -- in September:

National American

Braves 15-11 Yankees 13-15

Cardinals 19-7 White Sox 14-12

Giants 19-8 Mariners 17-9

Mets 12-14 Athletics 19-7

Indians 17-13

Playoff fastballs: The Yankees are 3-12 in their last 15 games and have been outscored, 119-53. ... Have any players put a team on their backs better and carried them longer than Oakland's Jason Giambi (38 for 104, .365, 11 HRs, 31 RBIs since Aug. 19) and Cleveland's Manny Ramirez (.367, 12 HRs, 47 RBIs since Aug. 1)? ... Did any big-money player fold down the stretch more than Mets catcher and one-time MVP favorite Mike Piazza (.233, 5 HRs, 10 RBIs in September)? ... Former Yankee David Wells after beating his former team last week: "I see a good ballclub over there, but they're very beatable." ... After an 0-6 start, the Giants were 55-20 at Pacific Bell Park, where they have the inside track at NL home-field advantage. ... Not bad either are the Cardinals, who are 36-18 overall since Aug. 1.

The Guy's prediction: Yankees vs. Cardinals in the World Series.

Looking back

How much weight should you give the preceding? The Guy In the Stands recounts the division and wild-card predictions he made in March: Braves (NL East), Cardinals (NL Central), Diamondbacks (NL West), Reds (NL wild card), Yankees (AL East), Indians (AL Central), Athletics (AL West), Red Sox (AL wild card).

Kids at play

There have been times the past two years where if you saw Mets GM Steve Phillips sneaking up behind Manager Bobby Valentine with a champagne bottle raised in hand, you'd have called 911 to report an assault with a deadly weapon. What winning can do for a relationship! After clinching the NL wild card Wednesday, Phillips was caught sneaking up on Valentine and dumping a half-bottle of champagne over his head.

Angry? "I totally appreciate that," Valentine gushed. "You know what's the best? When it gets in your ears and starts bubbling? Thanks, boss."

The Guy liked them better when they didn't get along.

Good, wild and ugly

Good: Mike Mussina, Orioles. ... 7 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 15 Ks in a 1-0 win vs. Red Sox Sunday. He might as well have taken out a free-agent classified: 10-15 record not indicative of this 31-year-old arm.

Wild: Tom Prince, Phillies. ... 4 AB, 2 R, 4 H, 1 RBI, 1 SB in a 10-4 win vs. the Cubs Tuesday. A stolen base? It had been better than seven years (May 19, 1993) since The Guy saw such a thing. Embarrassed victim: Chicago's Joe Girardi.

Ugly: 14,248. Attendance at the Oakland Coliseum for Monday's Athletics-Angels game, the A's first game back after a playoff-defining 8-2 road trip that vaulted them into the AL wild-card lead.

This 'n' that

Putting into perspective the Braves' streak of nine consecutive division championships, starting shortstop Rafael Furcal was 10 in 1990, the last season Atlanta did not make the playoffs. ... White Sox Manager Jerry Manuel, whose team flew to Cleveland Monday to partake in the afternoon portion of the unusual three-team doubleheader, then flew right back home: "I guess it was something to do on a Monday." ... A Guy salute to Minnesota's Jason Maxwell, who played in his 70th big-league game this week. Maxwell was the 1,667th player taken in the 1993 draft -- the lowest player ever taken to make it to the majors. ... From Dan Davis of ESPN Radio after the United States defeated Cuba for Olympic gold: "This just in from Sydney: Tom Lasorda has tested positive for marinara."

Shot and a jeer

Shot: Every athlete who ever iced his aching knees after a night on the turf at Three Rivers will appreciate this headline: "Tartan Turf assures soft landing for all." Source: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Date: July 16, 1970. Subject: A new North Side stadium opening that night.

Jeer: Dodgers catcher Todd Hundley makes $6.125 million this season. He says he'd like to stay with the Dodgers. But ... he could make as much as $8 million a year on the open market this off-season. "It's not out of my control, but you have to be realistic. I have to take care of my family." And The Guy thought Shawn Kemp had a big family.