BY: COLVIN ROBERSON
Sports Nostalgia: Shreveport Captains
I can still smell the burgers being cooked on the grill in the Beer Garden. I can still remember how much better the soft-serve ice cream tasted in the plastic minihelmets, listening to the “rail buzzards” heckle opposing players and cheer for the Captains. I can close my eyes and hear “Preacher” peddling more beers than I had ever seen in my life.
It was a different time for sure. Fair Grounds Field was in its heyday, and you couldn’t convince me otherwise that I was watching the best baseball ever played. My parents started bringing me to Captains games in the mid-’80s, whenever FGF was built, but my memories don’t really start until around 1988. Back then, the Captains were the double-A affiliate for the San Francisco Giants. This meant that we got to see the future of the Giants before they made their way to San Fran. In 1989, Steve Decker being the next big thing for the Giants. A tall, imposing catcher who was a sure bet in the eyes of everyone in the Giants organization. My parents and I sat in a few places until we finally settled into a box along the third base line in the “Beer Garden.” Our seats were right behind the Captains bullpen at the time, so we grew close with the team as the season progressed, oftentimes holding conversations with the guys during the games. This was a dream for any kid who loved baseball as much as I did.
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