Cubbies, Cubbies

The Major League Baseball season is winding down. Today my Cubbies are playing a HUGE doubler header against my least favorite team in baseball, the Florida Marlins. I hated them last year during their Cinderella run to a World Championship (I actually cheered for the Yankees! You made me cheer for the Yankees, Florida Marlins!). I hated them in their improbable World Series victory over my other team, the Cleveland Indians. The Marlins continue to upset my favorite teams and that in itself puts them way down on my love scale.

So far so good today as my Cubbies are currently up 5-1 through 5 1/2 innings in game 1.

This really is one of my favorite times of the year. I have always loved watching the World Series and the playoff series that lead up to it. Even when the Yankees are playing. There are nothing but good memories associated with the MLB postseason.

More then anything, baseball in it's entirety, not just the playoffs, remind me of my Dad. When he passed away a few years ago watching baseball took on a whole new meaning for me. Now, watching the game isn't just about watching overpaid egomaniacs smack a little white ball around a diamond shaped field. It's about reliving my childhood and being taken back to a time when life was a lot simpler.

Baseball has always represented peace to me. Some of my precious memories are of the times spent at a major league ballpark with my Dad and brothers. Cleveland, Cincinnatti, Detroit, Toronto, Pittsburgh, Fenway Park, Cooperstown, NY . . . all great places to go when you're a baseball fan. There's something magical about being in a ballpark. Everything's better at the park. The weather's better, the food's better, the people are better. Life is better when you're in the ballpark.

I can remember watching Jim Thome as a rookie third baseman for the up-and-coming Cleveland Indians in the early 90's. Or watching Wade Boggs play thirdbase for the Boston Red Sox at historic Fenway Park. I can remember seeing my Dad caught in a day-dream while his face was plastered on the jumbotron at old Three Rivers Stadium.

As my son get's older I plan to do everything I can to teach him the love of the great game of baseball. No matter how high salaries get, how pampered and panzied players become, how commercialized and mediatized the game becomes, there will still be a big place in my heart for the game.

There is one magical ball park that has escaped me thus far (well, there are many but there is one that I'd really love to go to), and that is Wrigley Field. As a kid I grew up idolizing Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson and Mark Grace. I cannot wait for the day when I can take my son to Wrigley and sit amongst the greatest baseball fans in the world.

As this season winds down and the Cubbies continue to battle for a spot in the post-season, I am going to make this bold prediction. The Cubs will beat out the Giants for the National League wild-card. They will then defeat the Atlanta Braves in NLCS semi's and move on to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS. Then, they will finally bring peace and rest to the millions of Cub fans around the world who have waited for so many years for a World Series championship when they defeat the Boston Red Sox and become the 2004 World Series Champions.

What a magical post-season it will be for Cubs fans! Go Cubbies!