Documenting memories: Artist Jay Goldberg, visiting Manchester, records people's cherished recollections of their first game

Aug. 12—Jay Goldberg has traveled extensively to hear people talk about one thing: the experience of their first baseball game. And while the memories vary, the conversations are rarely about the game.

People tend to forget scores or specific plays, but they always remember who they were with.

"Really, what it's about, in one word, is love," said Goldberg, 63.

Goldberg, a lifelong New York City resident, trims these conversations to two-minute video "stories." Often, he creates a black-and-white photo with interview highlights. He's doing this at The Factory on Willow, where he is an artist in residence.

The project is called "The Memory of America: Remember Your First Baseball Game." His Manchester stay will culminate with a showcase exhibition on Thursday at 5 p.m. at The Factory. The event is free and open to the public.

The event, "The Memory of America, Manchester: Remember Your First Baseball Game," will feature interviews Goldberg's interviews with a host of Manchester residents. Parts of the exhibition will be interactive: People can choose which video stories they want to watch by clicking on a photo that has a one-quote teaser.

"When somebody sees these stories, they could see them in completely different ways from somebody else," Goldberg said, "but it will be very difficult for somebody not to see some aspect of love in each story, in one way or another. I haven't really had a story yet that doesn't have love as the core of the story."

The idea for the project, Goldberg said, came when he had a design studio where he sold handmade gift baseballs. On the baseballs' packaging, Goldberg wrote someone's memory of their first baseball game. That resonated with people, he said.

Goldberg, who started the project in 2019, said the packaging idea came from a letter he received from his late father, Sy, in 2003. The letter included a newspaper cutout with a, "This day in baseball" factoid, which was from the first game his dad remembered going to in the early 1930s.

"That's where it goes back to," said Goldberg, a New York Mets fan who got his love for baseball from his dad. "Then I just started working on it and I really have enjoyed it. You get to meet all types of people and, partly, what's so enjoyable for me is these memories.

"I'm not asking people about something that's sad."

The local fans

Take Manchester resident Dan Scanlon, for instance. For Scanlon, attending his first Red Sox game in 1960 was a big deal, he told Goldberg. Growing up in a working-class family in Haverhill, Mass., getting Red Sox tickets and taking the trip into Boston was a big undertaking for the family. And once at Fenway, Scanlon was most interested in those megaphones stuffed with popcorn.

Later in life, Scanlon said he gained appreciation for the chance to go with his dad and grandfather. He never really had the moment of being in awe of the majestic green field and the Green Monster. But his mom did, when he took her to her first game years later when she was in her 60s or 70s.

Benny Tamzarian, also of Manchester, told Goldberg that curiosity was the spark for attending his first game in 2005. Tamzarian's T-ball teammates told him about New Hampshire's professional baseball team, the Fisher Cats. Then 6 years old, Tamzarian wanted to go watch the pros and asked his dad to take him.

"I was excited to get to the game, get a hot dog," Tamzarian told Goldberg. "For me, that's all baseball was about back then was just going to the game, having fun and getting food after. ... We sat on the left field side — bleachers or the seats — and then we're just sitting there watching the game. You get up, go to the stands. I feel like I'm watching the game right now."

While working on the project, Goldberg has researched memory studies. He audited a course at The New School for Social Research in New York City taught by professor William Hirst and spoke with Harvard University professor Daniel Schacter, who has written several books on memory.

Hirst, Goldberg said, hates baseball and has never been to a game but had a theory on why the memory of the first time at a baseball game stays with people.

"In his view, the reason why so many people remember this is ... you're with somebody you love, who loves you and you're a child, for the most part," Goldberg said. "You've never been to anything like this in your life. All of a sudden, you're around 10,000, 30,000 people. ... You're in this new world but you're with somebody that you love, who loves you. His reason was, if you put that together, how is somebody not going to remember this?"

Goldberg doesn't remember his first baseball game because he was 3 years old when his dad took him to Yankee Stadium. From what his dad told him, Goldberg spent the whole game underneath people's seats collecting Coca-Cola bottle caps with baseball players' pictures on the inside.

His first memory, he said, is Shea Stadium to see the Mets when he was 4. His only real memory is leaving the stadium holding a Mr. Met doll his dad bought him in one hand and his dad's hand in the other.

Manchester prideGoldberg said his interviews with Manchester residents have been unique. Nowhere else in the country have people talked about the pride they have in their city.

"Obviously, I interview people in New York all the time," Goldberg said. "They don't talk about New York City, per se. But here I've had people that have this pride about Manchester that, unprompted, has come up numerous times, which has been very interesting to me.

"I think there's a certain pride here in Manchester from the community that, really, has been wonderful to see."

Manchester's Jessica Nelson is an example. Nelson wasn't a baseball fan when she attended her first game, a Fisher Cats game in 2005 at Delta Dental Stadium, when she and her fellow Girls Scouts helped at various concession stands. Afterwards, she and the girls met players and had a group sleepover in the outfield.

"I think a big thing about baseball is the community aspect," Nelson told Goldberg, "and I think that ties into a lot of New Hampshire and Manchester itself — the local culture and who we try to be as a community. It's just bringing together all different types of people. You don't have to love baseball to get into it, but you can just be there with friends or with family."

Gathering and recording stories is a way of preserving history, Goldberg said. People he has interviewed have gone as far back as the 1930s with their first-game memories.

There is no natural conclusion for the project, said Goldberg, who has been at The Factory since June 1. In fact, he would like to return to Manchester again.

In the meantime, he envisions similar exhibitions like Thursday's in different cites.

"Once I lose passion for what it is, I know it's time to go to the next thing," said Goldberg.

ahall@unionleader.com