Michael Sergio, after he fell from the upper deck at Shea Stadium during game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
Over the years, I’ve hijacked my law blog to talk baseball on occasion. Why? Because I can. It’s my blog and I make the rules.
The first time I did it, I discussed the Supreme Court’s fantasy baseball team and the problems they had on recusal when a fantasy baseball case came before it. I candidly admit it was great fun to write that post.
The Mets take the field in 30 minutes for the World Series. The last time they won, in 1986 against the Red Sox, I was at all four games in Shea Stadium. It isn’t as easy to sneak in as it used to be (statute of limitations has passed, thank you very much) but I do have legit tickets for game 5 on Sunday, assuming there is a game 5 of course. (My game 6 tickets against the Cubs went unused due to the sweep.)
Without further ado, Talkin’ Baseball on a personal injury law blog (feel free to cue up the music as you read):
Baseball, Poetry and Crocuses (Pitchers and Catchers Report Next Week!)
False and Misleading Headlines (Youth Baseball Edition)
April Fools’ Day Quiz, Justice Alito, and Baseball
25 Years Ago Today — Game 6, 1986 Wold Series
Opening Day – An Interview with 1986 Shea Jumper Mike Sergio
R.I.P. Jane Jarvis, Shea’s Queen of Melody (And a Lesson For Lawyers)
My baseball fandom began with the Pirates (in Forbes Field!), then moved to the Red Sox (Air Force duty in Maine), then to the Phillies (met my wife in the Philadelphia suburbs), then to the Tigers (heard them win their title while sitting in an airport waiting room in Canada) and then we moved to CT. Each of those above teams won a World Series title whilst I was following its fortunes. I therefore assumed, rightly so, that it was all my doing. Magic.
Since we live in the NYC TV market we could not reliably get any of the aforementioned team’s games. So we tried the Yankees. Uh, eventually, no sale, although they did win one Series due to my watching them on TV.
Somehow the Mets only reached our radar this year, but it was before they surged, so I’m not a truly last minute Geezer-come-lately.
Pity that the Mets are now one down, but they showed heart, and we are still confident. And I’m still watching, so my magical influence might still take hold.
But, for all those prior magical wins I never got a ring.
Huge Mets fan from 1978–Now. As a kid I called Sergio and pretended to be a local radio station and interviewed him the day after he flew into Shea. One correction–Sergio did not fall from the upper deck but from a plane flying over Shea
One correction–Sergio did not fall from the upper deck but from a plane flying over Shea
Wait! He didn’t fall from the upper deck and just happen to be wearing a parachute? You sure?
He says otherwise:
Opening Day – An Interview with 1986 Shea Jumper Mike Sergio
He always refused to give up the name of the pilot and said he fell out of the bleachers with a wink and a nod.
— “Mr. Sergio has said he could not disclose his pilot’s name because he did not want to help himself by getting another person in trouble.
”There is one person I would like to meet,” he said at another point, ”and that’s the fellow who flew into Red Square. I think I can have a lot of fun with him.”
He also recently was quoted in an article describing what it was like being in the parachute over Shea trying to land on home plate.
To date, my magical influence over the outcome of a World Series seems to be on the wane. But take heart, fellow fans of the Metropolitans. My very first notice of any Word Series was the 1960 edition, Pirates versus Yankees, which, if you will recall, went to the Pirates (did Mazerosky ever touch home at the end?). Every game that the Yankees won, they won by a large margin. For the Pirates, though, the margins were minimal. But their outcome was better.
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“Wait until NEXT YEAR!” — said every sad fan ever.
“Wait until NEXT YEAR!” — said every sad fan ever.
109 days until pitchers and catchers report.