My first Phillies game---Saturday, July 13, 1963

I was thinking back to my first Phillies game.

I know I was around 6 or 7 (1962, 1963), it was against the San Francisco Giants, and the Phillies won 4-3.

My brother Joe took me.

I remember him driving, paying someone to 'watch' out car, and then standing outside Connie Mack Stadium waiting to buy a ticket. I remember thinking it looked like we were going into a big movie theater---all I knew of ball fields was a big open lot, like we had at the Bridgesburg field. As we were walking to get into the park, we saw some Phillies. Clay Dalrymple stands out prominently, as he didn't look like a ball player--he didn't have any hair. My brother pointed out some San Francisco Giants walking into the players entrance---he said they didn't look that big!

I can still remember walking into the park, and seeing the green grass--it was stunningly beautiful, still one of the most breathtaking scenes I have ever seen (and I've been to Hawaii).

I was mesmerized and amazed---something that puzzled me was why the Phillies wore red? I thought they wore white and black uniforms (poor us, we only had Black and White televisions).

I don't remember a lot about the game, but I do know I saw Willie Mays.

I also remember the seats were behind the plate---a precursor to my 25 years behind the plate with my own season tickets.

I didn't catch a foul ball---never did, although on the way home we did see a kid with a ball---I was very jealous.

Checking the baseball encyclopedia should give me an idea of the date of this game...

Hmmm...

Friday, July 28, 1961...a 4-3 win over the Giants. I don't know if it was a day game or night game. My game was a day game.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196107282PHI

Saturday, July 13, 1963. 4-3 win over the Giants. Looks like a great game. My buddy Roy Sievers hit 2 home runs, and so did Willie Mays. Here's the box score...

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196307130PHI

Thursday, July 30, 1964. 4-3 win over the Giants. I don't think this is it--I went to several games in 1964. That wouldn't have been my first game.

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=196407300PHI

I believe it was most like the Saturday game, July 13, 1963---a great game1