A Little Prose-Poem for Opening Day--1966!

Opening Day 1966

My buddy Terry and I had a great plan to see all the Indians’ games free in 1966. We would sell hot dogs or cokes at Municipal Stadium and watch the game between sales.

We skipped school that day and took a 7 AM bus to East Cleveland. Then from the Windermere Station, we grabbed the Rapid Transit to the Terminal Tower.

From Public Square we walked the mile down to Municipal Stadium, the middle-aged but beautiful giant on the Lake.

We found the line for concessionaires—about 200 folks, and we were the youngest and the whitest.

There was no rigamarole with paper work, and we were hired just like that, trained in five minutes. All we had to do was holler, “Get your Red Hots here! Red Hots here!” That was it.

Before you knew it, we were carrying hot dogs, buns, and beloved Stadium Mustard up and down aisles, jammed with 80,000 customers—the largest crowd I’d ever seen.

I didn’t see a minute of that game. I sold 200 hot dogs and made 8 bucks. Of that I spent 2 bucks on buses, clearing 6 bucks for a 12-hour day, getting back to Euclid at 7 PM.

Terry and I got into trouble for skipping school, but we hardly gave a damn. It was senior year, and this was Opening Day!

That was my first and last day as a concessionaire, an experience I’d always value, and never forget.#

            Bob Coughlin / April 11, 2017—Opening Day

Opening Day of the Baseball Season--Happy Memories

Today the Cleveland Indians open their season against the Toronto Blue Jays. It's a fairly typical Cleveland early spring day (except for the incredible sunshine): the temperature is in the low 40's, and a chill wind blows in from cold Lake Erie. My son-in-law, Ed Kleppel, will be at the game rooting the Tribe on. There's a possibility that 45-year-old Omar Vizquel will make an appearance at shortstop for the Blue Jays--the oldest shortstop (and the best!) in baseball history. We fondly remember Omar's 11 years with the Indians.

Today I especially remember some opening games, both in Cleveland and Cincinnati. I remember the 1966 home opener when my friend Terry Laurie and I skipped out of St. Joe's High School and sold hotdogs at Cleveland Stadium. Our plan was to watch the game for free. It turned out that 80,000 people showed up and we didn't have a free minute to watch the game. We were gone from early morning until evening, took 2 CTS buses to the game and 2 buses home--and we made $8.00 for our day's work (subtract from that the bus fare). But it was a great day, and worth the 5 demerits Brother Boekermann dished out!

I also fondly remember an opening day in Cincinnati (1977) when about 6 inches of snow fell. A snowball fight broke out, of course, and amazingly the game proceeded as tons of snow melted in Riverfront Stadium. Cincinnati is one of the greatest towns for opening day, with the Findley Market parade and all the wonderful events of the day.

On April 4, 1974, opening day, I watched the Cincinnati Reds play the Atlanta Braves. Hank Aaron hit his 714th home run in the first inning, tying Babe Ruth's all-time record--one of the great moments in baseball history, and I was there.

In the late 1990's Linda and I worked the concession stand opening day at Jacobs Field, where the Tribe opened their season. The soccer parents worked the stand and a good amount of money was earned for my daughters' soccer teams and the Euclid Youth Soccer Organization. What I remember is working non-stop, and freezing my rear end off! Opening Day is normally very very cold in Cleveland.

Cold or not, sun or snow, opening day is a wonderful big deal in Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Go Tribe!