A Baseball Game With Dad

On the eve of what would have been my dad's 88th birthday I thought it would be nice to write about the first Cubbie game that I ever went to with him and my older sister JJ.  It was another hot day in Houston back in 1976. Dad came home from his job with game tickets in his hand and said, "Girls, let's go to the Astrodome tonight to see the Cubs!"  It was totally unplanned. We were so excited because we had never been to a professional game before.  Not even when we lived in Hobart, IN or Highland Park, IL!  Go figure.  Why dad waited until we were 925 miles away from Wrigley Field to go to a Cubs game, I'll never know.  Haha!  But I have made up for it since then.  ; )

This is the year!!!!!!  : ))))))



I believe, at that time, he was working for the Paragon Corporation. I know he was always flying off somewhere when he worked for them.  Before Paragon, he worked for Medical Ancillary Services.  This was one of the first organizations to group and market emergency room physicians, a predecessor to today's HMO's.  When we eventually moved back to Indiana, dad bought a bookkeeping firm and worked 14 hour days to keep it up.  He would often visit with his clients when he picked up their "books" and hang around shooting the shit about current events. But it was when dad owned the Hoosier Court Motel and Mini-mart in Rockville, IN that he was really in his element.  He loved talking to the guests that stayed overnight or hobnobbing with local residents who shopped in his store after filling up their cars with gas. Guess that's where we all get our love of conversation.  : )


The Hoosier Court Mini Mart and Motel. Dad added the Standard gas pumps, too.  : )


After dad passed away the hotel/market/gas station was sold and eventually the hotel buildings were torn down. The gas station still sells gas but it's a little more expensive now.  ; )  I drive past it occasionally and fondly remember mom and dad when they lived there.  How I wish we could have gone to Wrigley together. 

Anyway.....back to that night of baseball.  The Astrodome was HUGE!!!!


Huge on the outside

Gargantuan on the inside!


 This magnificent super dome, the first in the world, was built in 1965 and served as the home of the Houston Astros until 1999.  I remember our seats were pretty high up and another vivid memory I have is how green the astroturf was.  Dad had picked a good game to attend because Cubs outfielder Rick Monday was honored for his heroic act from earlier in the season. It was during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium that Monday raced across the outfield grass and scooped up the American flag before it could be ignited by two protesters that had run out onto the field.  We witnessed something that was honored and remains to this day, an act of supreme patriotism.  Here is why Monday was honored:

Dodger Stadium-April 25th, 1976

All three of us really cheered loudly that night for the Cubbies!  Every time the Astros would bat we screamed, "Three up!  Three down!  And we don't mess around!", successfully pissing off the orange-clad Astro fan base.  We waved our pennant around so that Jack Brickhouse would put us on TV and  to block the view of the loyal home team patrons, all three of them.  We were also the only Cubs fans in attendance.  lol!

Here's a cool pic of dad.  So thankful that we at least went to one game together. Thanks for being a baseball fan, dad!  Especially a Cubs fan!  Sorry about Moneta and JJ being Sox fans.  They need to get back to blue!!!!  Silly sisters. : )))))  Happy Birthday up in heaven!!  Love and miss you. GO CUBS!!!!!

My dad loved baseball.  And so do we.  : )

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