If you have guessed that I am a Dodger fan, you would be correct.

I was born and raised in Los Angeles and have been for the Dodgers all my life, and I have so many wonderful memories of those days long ago when I was but a youngster in LA. I recall vividly the first time my Dad took me to Dodger Stadium in May of 1964, when I was  in the first grade. When we walked into the ballpark and caught the first glimpse of the field, I was amazed at how huge the place was; it was the biggest place I had ever seen, all stretched out below our level.

The sights, the sounds of batting practice, the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd, and the smells… I’ll never forget the wonderful smell of the place. I could smell the hot dogs roasting, the relish, peanuts, and most of all a faint aroma of cheap cigars, all of which came together to tantalize my 6-year-old brain: It was magic.

My heroes beat the Cubs that day, and I was hooked.

As amazing as that day was, it was my first of literally hundreds of visits to the ballpark. When Sandy Koufax broke the record for strikeouts in a season in 1965, I was there. I was at one the games in Don Drysdale’s shutout streak in ’68, the World Series in ’74, ’77, ’78 and ’81, the All Star Game in ’80, and season tickets three times from 1978-1980.

I was hooked all right.

Yet it isn’t just ballpark memories. When I was a kid, we could walk around the neighborhood on a summer evening and hear Vin Scully on the radio everywhere we went because in every house, every yard, and every garage the game was on the radio. On school nights, I had the game on a transistor radio hidden under my pillow to hear the end of it. I think I learned more about baseball, sportsmanship and decency from Vin Scully than almost anyone else.

Of course, there are also memories of bringing my own kids to the ballpark…

Yes indeed, I was hooked, and like so many other fans, of so many other teams, these are my treasured memories.

This year it’s our turn to celebrate, and that makes today a very special day, no just because of the win, but because this brings all of the memories back to life.