A Few Things You Should Know About Me
1. My dad, Sean Connery, used to play baseball in college and I have vague memories of night games, under the lights, the smell of cigar smoke (which I still love because of those nights) and the sounds of cracking bats and cheering. Very basic, very visceral. I must have been, what, 2? 3?
2. 20 years later I saw my first professional game ever, in San Francisco at Candlestick Park. That's when I fell in love with the liturgy of baseball...the hot dog, the beer, the 7th inning stretch. And when, years later, I saw "Bull Durham" for the first time and Susan Sarandon's character talked about "the church of baseball", I knew exactly what she meant.
3. I stopped even reading postgame alerts in August. The Mariners sucked this year. I do not recognize this team. They haven't been the same since Lou Piniella left. I was at Safeco Field for Lou's farewell. I cried. I love Lou.
4. I hate the Yankees. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. Their first round elimination in post season play makes me insufferably giddy. I love when the Yankees lose and I really love when they don't get anywhere near the World Series. And I say this even though many former Mariners play for the Yankees. They are in pinstripes now so I do not love them. They were not loyal to me, I am not loyal to them. Meh.
5. If this happens, that cracking sound you hear will be my heart. Please, Lou, anywhere but there.
2. 20 years later I saw my first professional game ever, in San Francisco at Candlestick Park. That's when I fell in love with the liturgy of baseball...the hot dog, the beer, the 7th inning stretch. And when, years later, I saw "Bull Durham" for the first time and Susan Sarandon's character talked about "the church of baseball", I knew exactly what she meant.
3. I stopped even reading postgame alerts in August. The Mariners sucked this year. I do not recognize this team. They haven't been the same since Lou Piniella left. I was at Safeco Field for Lou's farewell. I cried. I love Lou.
4. I hate the Yankees. Hate 'em, hate 'em, hate 'em. Their first round elimination in post season play makes me insufferably giddy. I love when the Yankees lose and I really love when they don't get anywhere near the World Series. And I say this even though many former Mariners play for the Yankees. They are in pinstripes now so I do not love them. They were not loyal to me, I am not loyal to them. Meh.
5. If this happens, that cracking sound you hear will be my heart. Please, Lou, anywhere but there.
Labels: baseball, my dad Sean Connery
cobbled together by Moi at 6:42 AM
13 Comments:
Today's Washington Post said that the Nationals are talking to Lou about replacing Frank Robinson. I'm still upset that they let Frank go, but I'd love to have Lou here in DC.
YOU can have Lou, Texas can have Lou...I just don't want to see him working for Steinbrenner.
I read that about Lou last night. Now, don't get mad at me, Lorraine... I have always been a Yankees fan. But I'm also a Mariners fan, so maybe you can cut me some slack. :S But the Yankees thing goes back to my childhood, and those things are hard to give up. But the Yanks of today are not like the Yanks of old...now they're just the best team money can buy....and they are not even that this year. So.... I see the day coming when I won't be rooting for them at all.
Gina, I don't hate Yankee fans, just their team. The best team money can buy...exactly...and that's only one of the reasons I hate them.
Elroy, I am well aware of the Yankees illustrious history and have a great deal of respect for it, academically. But I despise Steinbrenner and what he has done to the game and I will continue to despise him. Lou managing the Yankees will not usher in an era of goodness and beauty because Steinbrenner is still pulling the strings. I hate these Yankees and I hate them for all the right reasons.
Although snaps for equating Lou and the Mariners to Lyle Lovett & Julia Roberts.
As a long time Braves fan I know exactly how you feel about the Yankees.... they have prevented an ATL World Series Championship far too many times!
Ain't it the way. I find that smells and sounds force a remembrance now and then too. I love it...
ok- you've got me now on the Sean Connery thing-lol. Have to say that when l lived in the US l loved baseball- my kids never missed a season playing and l was often 'team mom' - bringing the snacks and juice. I haven't followed it so much since returning home but l did enjoy. We used to go to the bigger games and my son once sang the national anthem.
Bests
Oh yeah, forgot to say (besides thanks for not hating me) a game in Candlestick is magical, for all the reasons you name. I just watched a clip of Lou's "antics" as M's manager. I think he's just what the Yanks need - a good butt kicking. They're a bunch of overpaid pretty boys who, IMO, don't play for the love of the game, but for the love of paycheck. And yeah, it's Steinbrenner's fault. I agree with all that. I think I'm a Yanks fan more out of habit/nostalgia than anything. I mean...the Yankees - the Babe, Lou Gehrig, DiMaggio... those are the Yanks I love.
Baseball. The love of my childhood. Unfortunately, the big leagues are broken right now. I feel kind of negative about it lately because of:
1. The "wild card" system
2. Steroids
3. Absence of a salary cap
I still love the game, but as I get older I find that among the professional leagues, the NBA enthralls me the most.
No equipment, no steroid problem...just five on five... it is pure sports. I can't wait for the basketball season to start.
Of course, right now, I am also in love with the Chicago Bears. Words cannot express how much I enjoyed the beating they gave the Seahawks last week.
One of the fellas I work with is a die-hard Yankees fan..Sometimes,I wanna shove a Nathan's dog up his..I like the teams back in the 60's
This thing you call "baseball"... is that the game where they throw the ball and then tackle the guy who catches it?
Sure, Poodle. As opposed to the one where a bunch of pituitary cases try to stuff a ball through a hoop.
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