BASEBALL
BASEBALL
As any red-blooded American will tell you, Baseball is THE great American pastime. There is nothing else like it. I, myself, only played ball for a short three years in middle school. However, I have watched and listened to the sport all of my life. In addition, my obsession with collecting baseball cards as young kid fueled my passion for the game. As you may have guessed, The San Francisco Giants are my favorite National League team, and the Boston Red Sox are my favorite American League team.
This is consistant with my two favorite players: Willie McCovey and Jim Rice. The first pro game that I ever went to was "Willie McCovey Day" at the 'Stick (that's Candlestick Park, and not frickin 3Com). Willie Mac is also a resident of Woodside, CA, and I was shaking when I met him in a restaurant that I used to work at during Summers in high school. Jim Rice is just the man. I own every single baseball card ever made of him. To put things in perspective, Roger Clemens wore #14 (Rice's jersey number) out of honor and respect for him during the entire spring training following Rice's retirement. As for the success rate of my teams....well, things haven't been so hot. The Bo Sox's failure can be attributed to bill buckner (his name doesn't even deserve capital letters), but mainly the "Curse of the Bambino." Damn that ill fated trade of yester year!
Even though the Giants and BoSox are my favorites, I like quite a few others: the Indians (Satchell Paige and "Major League"--'nough said), the Orioles (Cal!), the Mariners (Griffey Jr. is the man), the Cardinals (Oz and Lou Brock--despite the brawls they used to get in with Will Clark and the Giants), the Rangers (gotta follow Will the Thrill), the Pirates (we are family and those sweet yellow painters caps of the 70's), and Royals (George Brett, pine tar, and the first World Series that I ever watched and knew what was up). However, I will never, ever like the Yankees, or the Dodgers. Duck the Fodgers, Duck Duck the Fodgers.
Currently, I play the sport that is the bastard child of baseball--softball. While it doesn't have the tradition and legacy of baseball, it is still a great game. I played in a Palo Alto men's league. We weren't the greatest of teams, but we were sponsored by Compadre's Cantina and we got free margarittas after the game which made it all worthwhile. I figure when I fully develope my beer gut, I'll become a better softball player, but until then I'll just have to keep dropping my right shoulder and hit to right field. I currently play in San Francisco for a co-ed team called the "Coral RREEFers." We are a rag-tag group whe wears hawaiian shirts and always have a beer in our hands. We play in the Golden Gate Sports and Social Club league in SF's Presidio. We kick much ass, but always have fun--the way softball should be played.
LINKS:
Giants' Virtual Dugout--official team site
