Close baseball games a feast for fans
One of the most memorable slugfests in baseball history is approaching its 30th anniversary.
The Phillies' 23-22 win over the Cubs at Wrigley Field on May 17, 1979 was a dream for fans who love offense. Dave Kingman hit one of the longest homers in Wrigley history and Mike Schmidt added to his legend as a Cub killer.
The great part about it was the oddity and rarity. It was almost a once-in-a-lifetime event until everything was blown out of proportion in the mid-1990s for various reasons.
There's nothing wrong with the occasional high school slugfest, either. With the emphasis on occasional.
But this season, I'm hoping to catch more 3-2 and 2-1 games. Actual baseball games involving strategy with fans hanging intensely on every pitch.
Opening day in the Mid-Suburban League produced an excellent start between Conant senior Walt Wijas, who hit 90 mph on the radar gun, and Schaumburg senior Kyle Meyer. It was fun watching them put up zeroes for five innings before Conant finally broke through with 5 runs.
Last spring was unlike any I've seen - and what many others who have been around for years have seen - in the MSL. Every day seemed to be filled with double-digit scores that made you feel as if you had gorged on your favorite junk food and realized it wasn't as enjoyable as it seemed.
Some of the games were more slogfests filled with walks and errors. Watching a team win an 18-17 game with only 7 hits wouldn't exactly be classified as a slugfest.
Last spring's miserable weather was definitely a factor. Some teams had not even been on their own fields for a practice at this time a year ago because of a heavy snow cover and unseasonably cold temperatures.
It didn't allow teams to get in as many nonconference games as they would hope.
Pitchers didn't get nearly the tuneup of actual game innings needed.
This year has been better in spite of a few early spring snowfalls. Some teams have actually played double-figure games before starting conference play and hopefully it leads to some better baseball.
It also appears the quality and depth of pitching in the MSL is better with more tense duels to come. There should be a good one Monday at Elk Grove when junior Kyle Pfister faces Rolling Meadows senior and Kentucky-bound lefty Jon Carlson.
Elk Grove was in an unforgettable one in the 2006 Class AA state quarterfinals when Ryan Copeland lost 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh to eventual state champion Naperville Central and Colin Bates. The game was over in an amazing 67 minutes.
And one of my favorite big-league games came in September of 1985 between the Cardinals and Mets before a full house at Shea Stadium.
The National League's top two pitchers, hard-throwing kid Dwight Gooden of the Mets and crafty lefty John Tudor of the Cardinals, matched each other pitch for pitch for nine scoreless innings.
It was classic pennant race theater with the Eastern Division on the line. The Cardinals finally won it on a homer in the top of the 10th.
It's the kind of game I'll take almost every day.
mmaciaszek@dailyherald.com