A few weeks ago, we visited B's Ballpark Museum near Coors Field in Denver. If visiting Fenway Park earlier this summer was a religious experience for me, so was visiting B's.
It goes without saying that Bruce Hellerstein, an author and the curator of the museum, is a man after my own heart. In his small and cozy museum is a literal treasure trove of memories for not only the avid baseball fan and historian (me) but also the more casual fan who goes to the ballpark for fun and realizes this is just more than an afternoon's fun.
Baseball is America's national pastime, and Bruce has captured this and more is a museum that may be Denver's best-kept secret. When my son and I went to a Rockies game on Sunday, we made our way to the B's Ballpark Museum (which at 1940 Blake is a half-block from Coors Field) if only to see Bruce's smiling face. There he was, greeting visitors. It was troubling to me that fans were heading to the nearby ballpark without going into the museum. I told one or two fans to check it out: "It's amazing," I said to a couple that had stopped in front of the building.
Inside fans will find undoubtedly the finest collection of Denver Bears memorabilia that exists. But Bruce, a lover of the game and its past, has also assembled an incredible collection of memorabilia honoring ballparks of the past, like Forbes Field, Tiger Stadium and others. The coup de grace: a room featuring some heart-stopping relics from Brooklyn's Ebbets Field, where the Bums played 60 years ago. There on the wall is a light fixture from the main vestibule of the stadium; on the ceiling an Ebbets Field light. In the corner, a chair that Jackie Robinson and the rest of the Dodgers used at Ebbets.
A few feet away --- one could miss this --- is the sprinkler fixture that Mickey Mantle tripped on in the 1951 World Series against the New York Giants. It features an NY logo and must have been the Cadillac of sprinklers in those days. In another nearby corner is a collection of rare ballpark seats from places like Crosley Field, Sportsman's Park and other long-gone stadiums. Like me, I realized, rather than collecting items of only one team, his theme is baseball's glorious past and its history.
Needless to say, I didn't want to leave and even asked Bruce about volunteering at this wonderful place of magic. You'll hear more about that later. It will be worth a regular trip to Denver if I can just brush up against the past in such a way.
Fodegraphing
Monday, July 4, 2011
Buck ... we hardly knew ye ...
I have been a big Blue Oyster Cult fan since the 1970s, probably falling hard with the "Agents of Fortune" album in 1976, that due to "(Don't Fear) The Reaper." Over the years, I have accumulated all of their albums and even brought my 24-year-old son Christian along. I recall telling him BOC's tunes could rival those of his favorite group, Metallica.
So, when we learned BOC would be coming to Greeley on July 1 --- just in time for my 59th birthday --- we scooped up tickets and began to wonder what their set list would be. I admitted to being excited to seeing Eric Bloom and "Buck" Dharma, the two 60-something aces of the Cult, the masters of many quirky songs and outrageous guitar riffs.
Unfortunately for BOC fans like us, the Cult was not the headliner this evening. Cheap Trick, a rock group from a slightly different era and genre, was. Hence, we just got settled into our seats, reveling in "The Reaper," "Godzilla" and "Shooting Shark" when Eric Bloom was waving goodbye after a 45-minute "concert." Hopeful of hearing some of our favorite underground rock, we were disappointed. But not unhappy. Because Bloom and Dharma and the other bandmates succeeded in convincing us that the group is anything but done, even though the guys are approaching senior citizendom. The singing and guitar work was tremendous, and the representations of the songs were straight and true. If anything, I came away more of a fan, pretty blown away by their abilities, 40 years later. I just wish it had been longer. We are hopeful of seeing them in another nearby venue when they are the headliners. I think a full, two-hour concert would be more than the bright toe-tapper Saturday's was.
The next day, my son and I took our traveling shoes to Coors Field, basking (baking) in 95-degree heat as the Rockies tangled with Kansas City on "Rapid City Day" at the stadium. Four unfortunate dudes or dudettes were dressed up as the Mount Rushmore four (heavy heads and suits), parading around in the smokin' heat. We had barely settled into our seats when Melky Cabrera hit the first of his two homers on the day, and KC was on the way to a 16-8 win. I'd like to say the Rockies were driving for the potential tying touchdown in the final quarter, but I'd be mixing metaphors, so to speak. The Rocks cut the score to 6-5 at one point, on Mark Ellis' two-run homer, but then KC exploded the next half-inning with a batrack full of bleeders and seeing-eye hits that turned into a six-run answer. It was over. Nonetheless, again, we had a great time, talking baseball to our neighbors, eating a hot dog and watching the game and scoreboard. It was a wonderful July 4 setting. For the first time I can recall, veterans (me included) were asked to stand to be recognized, and there was some fireworks. There is nothing like the July 4 holiday, perhaps since it coincides with my birthday. It was special to be in a place were people were not fighting about politics, but watching a baseball game and enjoying.
It was similar to a trip my family took in May of this year, to Boston, where we took in a pair of Red Sox games. I can attest to this: for a baseball fan, a trip to Fenway Park is a religious experience. Seeing the Green Monster for the first time, seeing the red seat in right field where Ted Williams hit a home run, sitting in the old seats ... it couldn't have been better. For two nights, we met some of the nicest people, and great baseball fans, all of whom welcomed us and congratulated us for seeing the greatest park in the majors. I couldn't argue. By the way, apparently Boston is a historic American city, so we took in some other sights as well. There's this guy Paul Revere (related to the Twins' Ben Revere?) and the Boston Harbor, and Salem, etc. Amazing and unforgettable!
So, when we learned BOC would be coming to Greeley on July 1 --- just in time for my 59th birthday --- we scooped up tickets and began to wonder what their set list would be. I admitted to being excited to seeing Eric Bloom and "Buck" Dharma, the two 60-something aces of the Cult, the masters of many quirky songs and outrageous guitar riffs.
Unfortunately for BOC fans like us, the Cult was not the headliner this evening. Cheap Trick, a rock group from a slightly different era and genre, was. Hence, we just got settled into our seats, reveling in "The Reaper," "Godzilla" and "Shooting Shark" when Eric Bloom was waving goodbye after a 45-minute "concert." Hopeful of hearing some of our favorite underground rock, we were disappointed. But not unhappy. Because Bloom and Dharma and the other bandmates succeeded in convincing us that the group is anything but done, even though the guys are approaching senior citizendom. The singing and guitar work was tremendous, and the representations of the songs were straight and true. If anything, I came away more of a fan, pretty blown away by their abilities, 40 years later. I just wish it had been longer. We are hopeful of seeing them in another nearby venue when they are the headliners. I think a full, two-hour concert would be more than the bright toe-tapper Saturday's was.
The next day, my son and I took our traveling shoes to Coors Field, basking (baking) in 95-degree heat as the Rockies tangled with Kansas City on "Rapid City Day" at the stadium. Four unfortunate dudes or dudettes were dressed up as the Mount Rushmore four (heavy heads and suits), parading around in the smokin' heat. We had barely settled into our seats when Melky Cabrera hit the first of his two homers on the day, and KC was on the way to a 16-8 win. I'd like to say the Rockies were driving for the potential tying touchdown in the final quarter, but I'd be mixing metaphors, so to speak. The Rocks cut the score to 6-5 at one point, on Mark Ellis' two-run homer, but then KC exploded the next half-inning with a batrack full of bleeders and seeing-eye hits that turned into a six-run answer. It was over. Nonetheless, again, we had a great time, talking baseball to our neighbors, eating a hot dog and watching the game and scoreboard. It was a wonderful July 4 setting. For the first time I can recall, veterans (me included) were asked to stand to be recognized, and there was some fireworks. There is nothing like the July 4 holiday, perhaps since it coincides with my birthday. It was special to be in a place were people were not fighting about politics, but watching a baseball game and enjoying.
It was similar to a trip my family took in May of this year, to Boston, where we took in a pair of Red Sox games. I can attest to this: for a baseball fan, a trip to Fenway Park is a religious experience. Seeing the Green Monster for the first time, seeing the red seat in right field where Ted Williams hit a home run, sitting in the old seats ... it couldn't have been better. For two nights, we met some of the nicest people, and great baseball fans, all of whom welcomed us and congratulated us for seeing the greatest park in the majors. I couldn't argue. By the way, apparently Boston is a historic American city, so we took in some other sights as well. There's this guy Paul Revere (related to the Twins' Ben Revere?) and the Boston Harbor, and Salem, etc. Amazing and unforgettable!
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