Hello, friends!
As you've seen on this blog in recent months, you know that I'm a sports fan. I've written about how exciting it was to see the Blues win their first Stanley Cup. I've written about my love for curling and how it might be my favorite sport to play right now. Recently, I've become a fan of soccer and there's always basketball and football to watch. Even sports entertainment (read: professional wrestling) has re-piqued my interest since it started showing on network TV again.
But my first love will always be baseball...
Papa Leong grew us up to be baseball fans, and even more than that, to be St. Louis Cardinals fans. When my younger brother played T-ball back in the day, they had to wear Cardinals T-shirts underneath their Dodgers jerseys so the Cardinals would be closer to their hearts. Growing up, in my neighborhood, you were either a little league person or a soccer kid. We were little league all the way.
For the past few years, the Cardinals have been fine but not spectacular and on a bit of a downward trajectory. In 2011, we won the World Series. In 2012, we made it to the National League Championship Series. In 2013, we made the World Series but lost. In 2014, we lost in the NLCS again. In 2015, we lost in the NLDS. The next 3 years, we missed the playoffs.
BUT NOW WE'RE BACK! After a down to the wire finish to the season, we finished atop the National League Central. We just beat the Braves in the NLDS in one crazy series, and tonight we start another NLCS against the Washington Nationals. It's going to be fun.
Growing up in Southern California, pre-Internet, the Cardinals were my team but I didn't know much about them. I only got to see them play once a year and the only information I got about them was from my dad, the newspaper, or the back of a baseball card. When I moved to St. Louis to go to WashU (#GoBears!), suddenly, I was in my version of baseball heaven. That's when my fandom, and my love of the game, REALLY took off, possibly in an unhealthy way. I still remember running around the lounge of Mudd Hall after the Cardinals won the 2006 World Series, their first in my lifetime. I remember taking a train downtown so I could celebrate inside the stadium with the rest of the city. I remember trying to get on a train the next Monday to go to the championship parade but not being able to get on because it was too crowded. Baseball in college was big.
Many people thing baseball is boring. Those people are wrong and has never watched a game with me. In college, I was a baseball evangelist. If you said you didn't like baseball, I said it was because you didn't understand it. Then, I'd buy you a ticket to a game, we'd watch it together, I'd explain everything that was happening, and you'd leave the game a fan. It happened more than once.
Since Ezra was born, I've watched a lot less baseball. The truth is that I'm trying to be fully present for my kids and so long as there are only 24 hours in a day, I'm going to prioritize time with my kids. But, I still have managed to teach them to be Cardinals fans.
Me: Kids, what do we say when we see the Cardinals?
Ezra: Go Cardinals!
Thaliea: Go Cardafsadffa...
Me: And what do we say to the other guys?
Ezra: Get off our lawn!
Thaliea: LALALALALA
Tonight, as you're reading this, I'll be heading to a birthday party for one of Ezra's friends. Game 1 of the NLCS starts and 7. I'm not saying I'll be distracted, I'm just saying that my first sports love will never be too far from my heart and mind...
Go Cards, and have an excellent day!
~Adam
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