The Common Man does not want this space to become a space for him to obsess about sports, though that is what The Common Man usually does (particularly about his Minnesota Twins). Perhaps he will write another blog in which he can do that. For now he would like to reserve this space for topics that are more universally interesting. That said, today The Common Man just cannot help himself. Today The Common Man is excited. For today, you see, he has heard the four little words that seem to make every February (a virtual dead time in the sporting world) worth enduring: Pitchers and Catchers report.
Indeed, today, in Florida and Arizona, fresh-faced rookies and obscenely wealthy veterans are getting out of their Humvees and their Corvettes and their mom's old Chevy Cavalier, are unpacking their bags full of Under Armour T-shirts, baseball caps, and jock straps, and are beginning to loosen up their arms. That's right, baseball is back.
Now, one could argue that pitchers and catchers began reporting yesterday, which is true. Or that The Common Man's beloved Twins don't report for another 2 days, 23 hours, 43 minutes, and 20, 19, 18 seconds. That is also true. But today is the first day that The Common Man really realized what was going on (he's been in a snowed-in mental fog) and got excited.
It's hard for The Common Man to be rational about baseball, for it is his first true love. He found it one summer in 1987 as the underdog Minnesota Twins backed into the playoffs and ended up as the World Champions (note: the world, in this case, refers only to the United States and Canada). And every spring, it rides back into his life, reclaims its place in his heart, and makes him giggly as a little school girl until late October, when it cruelly leaves him for four long months.
But now it is back! And, oh! The fun they shall have together, long into the warm summer nights. He shall be captivated by its beauty for hours on end, and shall treasure every moment. He shall look into baseball's eyes and profess his undying devotion. Unless, that is, freaking Ron Gardenhire gives the 5th starter's spot in the rotation to Sidney Ponson or Ramon Ortiz! Then it's over. This time, it's really over.
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3 comments:
Amen brother. I still have the taste of bases loaded bottom of the ninth two outs game seven NLCS on my tongue. Hockey is certainly entertaining but baseball is king. Will you be working the minors again this summer?
Would the Common Man know how Barry Bonds and all the other cheaters have managed to get NASCAR tangled up with performance enhancing drugs? I don't care for NASCAR one bit, but am wondering how many sports the corrupt in baseball bring down. Watch out Common Baby, T ball is next.
Good question, Rob E. There may be a major announcement forthcoming on this topic in the next week or so.
Sarah and Mark, The Common Man believes that a sport whose origins are in the bootlegging trade needs no help from the Barry or the other MLBers (by the way, half of those who have been caught are from the Dominican, suggesting that culture may have a lot to do with how one regards injecting crazy drugs into your butt) in order to start cheating. Don't pretend that baseball is alone here. The NFL Defensive Player of the Year this year missed four games for testing positive as well. And cycling. And track. Steroids have been a huge part of our national sporting culture for a long time, and this country is only deciding to get riled up because baseball is affected. Where was the moral outrage 15-20 years ago when Lyle Alzado came out about the rampant steroid use in football? Where was it 10 years ago when Brady frickin' Anderson hit 50 HR? Yes, eliminate steroid use in MLB, but our attention should be focused on sports as a whole and on eliminating the culture that creates and encourages such disregard for health and fairplay must also be addressed.
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