I’ve been a baseball fan since 1978.
That is the year I began focusing on the Kansas City Royals and the Nebraska Cornhuskers.
I was in my first year of school at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
For the Cornhuskers, Buck Beltzer Stadium had just opened replacing the wooden bleachers at Husker Field, located northeast of Memorial Stadium.
After classes, I would pay $1.00 to attend a game.
There might have been 50 fans in the stands to watch a Husker team that would win 36 games.
Flash forward to 1980 and the win total grew to 49 games.
On a cool Saturday afternoon, I watched a Husker pitcher toss a perfect game.
1,500 other folks clad in red joined me.
John Sanders was building a nice program. However, it began to falter in the late 1990s.
Sanders’ final year at NU, 1997, produced a team that won only 27 games and lost 35.
Dave Van Horn was brought in to right the ship.
He did so in Bob Devaney fashion.
In his second season, Nebraska won 41 games and in 2000, NU fans celebrated 51 games as Nebraska fell one game short of qualifying for the College World Series.
The Huskers accomplished that feat in 2001 and 2002 winning a total of 97 games.
Van Horn returned to his alma-mater of Arkansas following the 2002 season.
The 2005 Huskers, under coach Mike Anderson, won 56 games and played three games at the College World Series.
This past week, Nebraska lost its first game at the Big 10 Tournament in Omaha, getting blasted by Ohio State, 15-2, in the opener.
Nebraska came back to win five straight games and claim the title on Sunday morning with a 2-1 pitcher’s duel over Penn State.
It was the Huskers’ first post season tournament championship in 19 years.
The highlight of the tournament? The video my daughter sent to me of my two-year-old grandson shouting, “Go Big Red!”
My love for the Royals certainly peaked during the 1980 season when KC won the American League Championship.
Philadelphia won the World Series by beating the Royals in six games.
Kansas City would go on to win the World Series in 1985 and 2015.
My latest baseball endeavor is serving as one of the public address announcers at Alliance Spartans games at Bower-Shankland Field.
Enjoy your 2024 baseball experiences.
And I am at your service when it comes to talking baseball.