I would like to find the date, opponent, and score of the first
baseball game I ever went to. It was in Skydome(Now Rogers Center).
The Toronto Blue Jays were facing the New York Yankees I believe. I am
not sure, as I was much younger. Homer bush hit a home run to give the
blue jays the lead. That home run was either in the bottom of the 7th,
8th, or 9nth . The score was close, possiblly 2-1 or 3-2. At that time
I remember him having 1 home run already, putting him at 2. This would
place the year at either 1999 or 2001, his only mulitple home run
years as a Blue Jay, although I can not confirm that was his second as
I was so young. I am not completely certain of any of the details I
have provided you, the details have become hazier, but this memory has
lived in my mind for many years. Please find for me this game story in
detail with all the factualy information regarding the date,
attendance, day of the week, result and so on, so I can have this in
paper as a symbol of my childhood. If only I kept the ticket stub...

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Request for Question Clarification by denco-ga on 20 Sep 2006 11:30 PDT

Howdy jaysfan306-ga,

There is only one Jays game that I could find that is even remotely close to
your description of the first game you attended.  I think you remembering the
close score and Homer Bush hitting a home run near the end of the game is the
key.

"Philadelphia Phillies vs Toronto Blue Jays - July 14, 2000"
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=200007140TOR

Philadelphia Phillies 2, Toronto Blue Jays 3
Game played on Friday, July 14, 2000 at [SkyDome]

Homer Bush hit a home run in the 9th.

Bush typically hit his home runs in the first 4 or 5 innings, and the above
game was a rare late inning home run by him at the SkyDome.

Please review the above web page and see if this might be the case.  As far
I could find there were no home games against a New York team wherein Bush
hit a home run.  If the above will do as the answer to your question I will
be more than happy to post it as such.  Thanks!

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

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Clarification of Question by jaysfan306-ga on 20 Sep 2006 20:54 PDT

I believe you are right. Im not sure why I thought Yankees, possibly
because that was the next game I went to, or at least a memorable one.
But the Phillies do come to mind. As you said, I remember the score
being 3-2, and it was a Homer Bush winning home run. I could of sworn
there was at least another inning played. Was that the only game which
he hit a late inning winning homerun in his 3 years as a Blue Jay? If
it helps to narrow it down, the game must of been in the months of
June, July, or August. But anyways, you are probably right. Please
help me with the payment/accepting/rating process, as this is my first
question and I believe you have answered it.

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Request for Question Clarification by cynthia-ga on 21 Sep 2006 03:06 PDT

This might help verify:

Homer Bush - Baseball Musings Day By Day Database.
http://www.baseballmusings.com/cgi-bin/PlayerInfo.py?PlayerID=1425

Howdy jaysfan306-ga,

Greatly appreciate you accepting this as the answer to your question.

Homer Bush hit 10 home runs in his 4 years (1999-2002) with the Jays.  Of
those, 6 were at home, and only one of those was after the 5th inning.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/players/player.php?p=bushho01

That game is the one in question, and it appears to be the game you remember.

We have Homer Bush hitting a late game home run, a 3-2 score, and played at
home in July.  This is the only game that fits that information.

"Philadelphia Phillies vs Toronto Blue Jays - July 14, 2000"
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/box-scores/boxscore.php?boxid=200007140TOR

- Philadelphia Phillies 2, Toronto Blue Jays 3
- Game played on Friday, July 14, 2000 at [the SkyDome].
- The game lasted just over 3 hours at 3:07.
- There were 21,385 people in attendence.
- Homer Bush hit a home run in the 9th for the win.

Please note that you can order an "original" print copy of the box score from
Baseball Almanac for $10.00 from the above web page.

If you or someone you know lives in the Toronto area, you or they could go to
the Toronto Public Library and get copies of the articles and box score of the
game.
http://www.tpl.toronto.on.ca/

If no one is near Toronto, The Toronto Star allows access to articles for a
price of $3.95 an article or $10.95 for 5 articles.  Here is an example of a
snippet they provide at no cost.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/thestar/445967751.html?did=445967751&FMT=ABS&FMTS=FT

"Those in-the-know were not applauding, even on a night when Escobar pitched
well and Homer Bush clubbed his first home run this season to launch Toronto
to a dramatic 3-2 comeback win ..."

As for your payment here, that is automatic by the posting of this answer, but
you can still do the rating, etc. process as you wish.

If you need any clarification, please feel free to ask.


Search strategy:

Bookmark of the Baseball Almanac website.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/

I visited the Toronto Star and Toronto Public Library websites.

Thanks to cynthia-ga for the additional link.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher

Great. More than I could of ever expected.

My pleasure, jaysfan306-ga, and thanks for the kind comment and 5 star rating.

Glad to have been of service.

Looking Forward, denco-ga - Google Answers Researcher