Sean Kirst: Lessons from the Bisons, finally safe at home
By Sean Kirst
Updated
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Buffalo Bisons catcher Reese McGuire slides safe into home plate under the tag of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders catcher Kyle Higashioka the third inning of opening day at Sahlen Field on April 4, 2019. (James P. McCoy/Buffalo News)
By James P. McCoy/Buffalo News
A program from the Buffalo Bisons, 1979. (Courtesy of John Boutet)
The Buffalo Bisons and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders stand for the National Anthem during Opening Day ceremonies at Sahlen Field on April 4, 2019. (James P. McCoy/Buffalo News)
By James P. McCoy/Buffalo News
Fans enter the gates for opening day at Sahlen Field on Thursday, April 4, 2019. (James P. McCoy/Buffalo News)
By James P. McCoy/Buffalo News
Tom Girot, the beer vendor known as "Conehead," wears a jersey celebrating 1979, the year the Buffalo Bisons returned to Buffalo.
Sean Kirst/Buffalo News
Talk of a downtown home for professional football in Buffalo goes back to the 1950s and never-to-be plans for a Crossroads Stadium.
Sean Kirst/Buffalo News
Tom "Conehead" Girot serves beer Thursday at the Buffalo Bisons opener. He was at the first game 40 years ago when the Bisons returned to Buffalo, which explains his jersey number. (Sean Kirst/The Buffalo News)
For the Buffalo Bisons, Thursday's home opener against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre was a chronological milestone, even if the meaning was hardly on a lot of people's minds. Still, Glen and Patricia Albig and their fellow officers with the Bisons Booster Club, many around to watch the team almost since the beginning, understood the essence of this anniversary.
Buffalo Bisons catcher Reese McGuire slides safe into home plate under the tag of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders catcher Kyle Higashioka the third inning of opening day at Sahlen Field on April 4, 2019. (James P. McCoy/Buffalo News)
The Buffalo Bisons and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders stand for the National Anthem during Opening Day ceremonies at Sahlen Field on April 4, 2019. (James P. McCoy/Buffalo News)
Tom "Conehead" Girot serves beer Thursday at the Buffalo Bisons opener. He was at the first game 40 years ago when the Bisons returned to Buffalo, which explains his jersey number. (Sean Kirst/The Buffalo News)