Friday, February 22, 2013

Spring Training

            Everyone makes a big deal about counting down to the day pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training.  I prefer the day Spring Training games begin.  It is comforting to know that pitchers and catchers are getting ready, but it’s not much more than that.  I like to listen in and they don’t broadcast bullpen sessions.  For the last four years I have woken up the day Spring Training games start, purchased the MLB At Bat app and waited patiently at work for the Grapefruit League games to start at noon.  The app is $20 a year and it includes the home and away radio broadcasts of most Spring Training games and all regular and post season games.  I love it!  This year I took it a step further and purchased MLB TV.  I am so excited about watching out of market games; especially the Dodgers and Cardinals.      

The sounds of baseball are so calming; especially Spring Training.  There are the usual baseball sounds: the crack of the bat, the crowd noise, the over-zealous umpire that you can hear through the radio broadcast when the background is just quiet enough.  Also, the announcers are generally a little more laid back during Spring Training and that’s just fun.  Jim Powel and Don Sutton with the Braves are great on their own, but I also love when they bring in guest announcers.  Dale Murphy and Mark Lemke are my favorites.
            Until this past summer I worked in public accounting.  There is no better way to breakup a thirteen, fourteen, sometimes fifteen hour, tax return filled day than by listening to a baseball game.  So a typical day for me from late February until early April includes listening to the Braves at noon (when almost all Grapefruit League games start) and sometimes switching over to the Dodgers at 2:00 (when most Cactus League games start).  Even though I will no longer be at the office until all hours of the night, I plan to keep my same Spring Training schedule.  I can’t wait!

Sunday, February 17, 2013

I have three teams...

There is another saying about baseball that says that if you love more than one team, you are not a true fan.  I love three.  I know it’s a faux pas, but I can’t help myself; and no, all of my posts will not begin with a saying.  Of course I love the Braves.  I grew up watching them and the members of my family that are baseball fans love them and grew up watching them.  I also love the Dodgers and the Cardinals.  I know it’s random.  I’ll explain. 

I started following the Cardinals in 2009.  It started with the All-Star Game.  It was in St. Louis that year.  During the game and all of the coverage leading up to the game I learned more about the team.  They have a very rich history.  St. Louis may be the only true “baseball city”.  That intrigued me because I live in Alabama and it’s hard being a baseball fan in a state with no pro team.  I think what sealed the deal though was their stadium.  It’s gorgeous.  I love watching games played in St. Louis.  So I started watching them when they were on and by 2010 I was sort of following them and pulling for them.  I got to go to two games in St. Louis in June of 2010.  It was amazing.  More on that later. 

Also in 2009, the Braves did not make the playoffs.  I was not ready to stop watching so I watched the NLDS.  In the NLDS the Cardinals lost to the Dodgers and the Phillies beat the Rockies.  By the time the NLCS rolled around I didn’t want to just watch.  I wanted to be more connected.  I decided to pick a team.  I picked the Dodgers.  I know they too have a rich history and I love learning about the history of the game.  I also love their crisp white home uniforms.  I know every team wears white at home, but with the Dodgers it’s just different.  They lost in the NLCS to the Phillies, whom I pulled for the in World Series (solely because they were the National League representative).  I didn’t expect it to stick, but I found myself following the Dodgers and even pulling for them too when the 2010 season started.  The last few seasons I have gone to Atlanta when the Dodgers come to town; I’ve even worn my Dodgers gear to Turner Field.  It is a little awkward.  It is especially awkward when you forget which shirt you have on and cheer for the “wrong team”.   

I am proud to say that I am no longer collecting teams.  It’s not easy keeping up with three.  It is also not easy deciding who to pull for if one of my three plays another.  I usually pull for the Braves and if I HAD to pick one team it would be the Braves; but sometimes I play the numbers game to see who needs the win more.  This is usually not that clear-cut though.  I know I should probably drop the Dodgers and Cardinals since pulling for them too makes me not a true fan (according to some), but I just don’t want to.  It’s too much fun.  Perhaps I am a fan of the game more than anything.

 Side note: I always pull for the National League in the World Series.  Yes, even in 2010 and 2012 when the Giants won.   The only time I could see myself not doing this is if a Cinderella team from the American League made it to the Fall Classic.  For instance, if the Orioles or the A’s had made it this year (2012) I may have considered pulling for them.  What are great story it would have been for either of them to win.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Introduction

There is a saying, “Baseball finds you when you need it most.”  I don’t know who said it first, but I read it in Alyssa Milano’s book Safe at Home: Confessions of a Baseball Fanatic.  I can certainly relate to this idea.  I grew up watching the Braves.  My parents were big fans in the 90’s.  If the Braves were on, we were watching.  And it wasn’t just my parents.  My birthday falls in July.  One year I called my great grandmother (on my dad’s side) to thank her for my birthday card and the $10 included inside.  I could hear the game on the in background.  I told her, “Thank you for the birthday present.”  She said, “You’re welcome.  I love you.”  Click.  She hung up on me!  I never called her during a game again.

Despite that event, most of the baseball love comes from my mother’s side of the family; my mother’s mother’s side to be exact.  My great-grandparents were huge Braves fans.  I never new my great-grandfather; he passed away in 1981.  It still makes my mom sad to think that there wasn’t a World Series that year because of the strike.  I remember my great-grandmother watching or listening every time the Braves played.  There are stories of her walking around the kitchen table trying to summon a rally.  I would say that’s crazy, but I’ve been known to sit in my living room wearing a rally cap myself; so I cannot judge.  My great-grandmother passed away in December of 1994.  I never thought about it until now, but she passed just ten months shy of the Braves’ 1995 World Series win. 

I am sad to say that my parents tapered off as fans.  They were two of the many discouraged by years of division titles, but only one World Series win to show for it.  Now that I am grown it makes no sense to me.  Were fourteen division titles in a row not good enough for you?  How could you turn your back on them?  They gave us such great memories.  I remember watching Otis’s catch, Kent Mercker’s no hitter and Sid’s slide.  My eyes water to this day watching replays of Sid’s slide.  I remember towards the end of a couple of seasons pulling for the Giants and not understanding why.  And who could forget years and years of the amazing pitching rotations anchored by Maddux, Glavine and Smoltz?  I am also sorry to say that I tapered off as well.  I just wasn’t old enough to really keep up with them on my own.  I live in Alabama, so while the Braves are the closest team, they are not covered by all media outlets and the internet wasn’t around back then.  College football is king here and it gets almost all of the media coverage.  Don’t get me wrong, I love my Auburn Tigers; but I can honestly say that my first memories of sports include the Braves.      

After college I moved to Birmingham in 2006.  I lived with my grandfather and one of my uncles for two years before purchasing my first home in 2008.  I moved in December and watched my regular television shows until they ended in May.  When my shows went on their summer hiatuses I found myself with lots of free time.  What to do with all of this free time?  I don’t remember why, but I decided to see what the Braves were up to.  I didn’t recognize anyone, except Chipper, Bobby Cox and Joe Simpson.  I felt so lost, but at the same time it was so familiar.  I was instantly hooked, and now I’m in love.  Now, I don’t just watch in the summer.  I constantly watch the MLB Network in the off-season and I love learning more about the game and the history.  That is what this blog will be about.

By the way, I loved Ms. Milano’s book.  It is a very fun look at female fandom.  I could really relate to her love of the game and really enjoyed reading the historical information she included.  I would highly recommend it.  There was only one thing wrong with the book.  At one point she mentioned the 1996 World Series.  She said that the Yankees beat the Padres in six games.  Sorry Alyssa, the Braves won the NL pennant in 1996.