Call me a bandwagoner or whatever you like but I enjoyed watching the World Series. I’ve liked baseball all my life, playing games of work-up in the school yard, following the local farms clubs in various small towns in the Fifties, watching my kids in Little League and beyond, and, in the Eighties, reveling in the chance to drive to Dallas once a month to see the Texas Rangers. But, recent years have brought fewer opportunities to witness a live game, and I find TV coverage less than satisfactory.
Though the farm teams I cheered for back in the day belonged to the American League, I have always had a sentimental spot in my heart for the Chicago Cubs. Because . . . really . . . 1908? . . . I mean, bless their hearts! I have a fondness for the Cleveland Indians too for a similar reason. Bless their hearts, too. Also, Bob Hope owned a piece of the Indians and I had a fondness for Bob Hope.
My husband was a big Cubs fan. He had the hat and shirt and watched them play every chance he got, though he never had the opportunity to travel to Chicago to see a game.
For all the above reasons, I felt I should be allowed to root for the Cubbies in the 2016 World Series games. Or at the very least it’s my constitutional right.
So, I watched every game … on television in my living room. And I discovered once again why this manner of experiencing a game is less than satisfactory to me.
I want to comment on the plays. I need to make a suggestion to the umpire now and then. It’s just not the same when you’re alone.
I often mute the play-by-play announcer. I can see what’s going on, and if I miss it no problem, it will be instant-replayed several times. And now there is new technology that allows someone to second-guess the umpire? What is the world coming to?
By game 7, the trivia guy was on my last nerve. He sat in the booth with Google or something, pointing out to us how many ways this series was history-making.
“This is the first time a retiring catcher has hit a two-run homer in the 8th inning of the 7th game in World Series play in November with rain in the forecast.”
PLEASE!
All in all it was fun to watch history being made in the World of Sports. And I just have to say it:
How about them Cubs?
Ha! I noticed the same thing about that announcer. I’m not a baseball fan or anything but Mom has loved the Cubs for as long as I can remember. I think I was excited because I knew she and Jonathan were excited. I loved watching the World Series.