Written in the Book of Lore

I've related the tale here on the blog about the time my dad sprung me from school to see a Cubs game at Wrigley Field before they installed lights in the old ballpark.

Thing is, I couldn't remember the exact day, and I also couldn't remember who the opponent was, but I do remember one thing: Dave "King Kong" Kingman was batting for the other team. I will not forget that nickname, or the sight of that 6'6" dude standing at home plate.

Well, doing a little bit of research, Kingman started the '77 season playing for the Mets and got traded to the Padres. But he didn't get traded until June, by which time we had already moved to Georgia, because I finished the last month or so of the school year in ATL.

So it was a home game against the Mets on a school day in April or May, and there was only one of those. The Cubbies opened the season with a 3-game home stand against the NY Mets: 4/7, 4/9, 4/10... and the 9th & 10th were Saturday and Sunday.

So dad took me to the Cubs' opener in 1977 against the Mets. That's pretty frickin' cool.