No discussion of "true love" could be complete without baseball. There is no greater game on planet earth. Baseball is like a carefully orchestrated ballet. It takes brains, brawn and endurance. It is truly a fan-interactive sport - really the only one left. Baseball approaches the sublime.
The St. Louis Cardinals have been my baseball team for as long as I can remember. Even as a little kid I loved them. The homerun race in '98 was like icing on the cake for me. And in spite of what everyone says out there, MARK McGWIRE DID NOTHING WRONG. He was using a substance that EVERYONE in baseball was using. A substance that WAS NOT BANNED. All I know is that homerun race between Mark and Sammy saved baseball, and if for no other reason, fans should hold that season in the highest regard. The Cards are my National League team... and my all time favorite team. I was stationed outside of St. Louis for a couple years. All the while I was there I went to Cards games at Busch Stadium... the OLD Busch stadium. Being military, I could get tickets in the bleacher seats for only four bucks! Then, hotdogs and a beer were three bucks each, so for a measly $10, you could have a wonderful time, worshipping at the altar of baseball. I simply didn't get any better than that.
Speaking of home runs... The record recently broken by Barry Bonds still stands, in my mind. No record was broken. No racist, steroid using jackass like Barry Bonds deserves to even be mentioned in the same breath as Babe Ruth or Hank Aaron. Bonds makes me sick, and any fan with integrity and common sense should turn their back on this man, and especially this record. Any baseball player who says things like "I don't sign autographs for white people." should be banned from baseball for life, and have his stats flushed. Ask Pete Rose... He got what was coming to him, and Bonds isn't any better. In fact, Bonds is worthless as a man. Get the idea I don't like him? What's to like about a racist, hopped-up, prima-donna? In my mind, that's three strikes, YOU'RE OUT baby!
My father liked the Yankees, so through influence, I became a Yankee fan too. For the longest time it was the Cards and Yankees for me. One favorite team for each league. Well, my father died in January of this year, and with him died my love of the Yankees. After the World Series in 2004 when the Red Sox won, the Yankees flexed their checkbook to gut the Red Sox line up and came away with Johnny Damon. It made me ill. No other team in baseball has the money the Yankees do. No other team in the world can buy their success. So, after consideration, and a long heart-felt talk with my now deceased father, I dropped them from my heart.
This obviously left an American League void in my heart. I have been on a long quest to replace the Yankees and the AL in my life. I looked hard at the Angels because our local AAA team, the Salt Lake Bees, are a farm team for them. But I just couldn't get behind the idea. I looked at every team in the AL EXCEPT for the Boston Red Sox - which I will hate with a passion for the rest of my life... it's in my blood... having been a Yankee's fan for so long, I can't ever see the BoSox for anything other than what they are: A cut-rate wanna-be team that cries louder than any other in the AL. Well my search finally ended the other day. I've always been a fan of underdogs. Hell, I was a Green Bay Packer fan for years... how much more "underdog" do you want? Anyway, I keep coming back to the Cubs... I know, they're NL, but I wanted a team like the Cubs, and finally settled on the Detroit Tigers. TIGERS? Yes, the Tigers. Why? I really don't know other than they've been an underdog for so many years, I couldn't help myself. I also think their team logo, the classic old-english "D" is sweet. And then, wouldn't it be their luck and mine for the Tigers to have the very best record in baseball so far this year? Ain't it great?
Cardinals and Tigers. Animals. Birds and cats. Who woulda thunk it? So, goodbye Yankees, hello Tigers!
This is me... take it or leave it.
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