Duane posted an excellent story about how he ultimately became a Cardinal fan. I've always found these stories fascinating, especially when it's more than, "I grew up in the Bronx, so I love the Yankees." I have a bizarre story of my own, and if you want to see it, check out the extended entry.
I watched my first baseball postseason in 1986. Because the Astros won the NL West my parents watched the series, and so did I. Well, being such an impressionable child, I adopted the New York Mets, as my team since they were clearly the best, having just won the World Series.
For the next few years (87-90), I followed the Mets and the Darryl, Dwight, and HoJo show. Lately I've found it strange that I chanced to pick as my favorite players two of the most trouble-making players of the last 50 years. In fact, I liked Darryl Strawberry so much that when he signed with the Dodgers in 1991, a team I hated in 1988 NLCS, I whole-heartedly switched my alligience to LA. To this day, I have more Darryl Strawberry cards than any other player.
The Dodgers gave me some good times. Darryly had only one good season in LA, but the Dodgers gave me reason to believe. Aside from one terrible year, they looked like an up and coming team, that produced five straight Rookies of the Year, including Mike Piazza in 1993 and then there was Nomomania in 1995. They even made the postseason in 95 and 96.
By the end of the 1995 season, I still claimed the Dodgers as my favorite team, but I had moved to Moscow, ID and followed the fantastic "Refuse to Lose" season of the Seattle Mariners. I think I even skipped something important to watch the one-game playoff between the M's and the Angels. I worked at a cafe in the mall and we were allowed to have the games on the radio while we worked. During the last month of the season people would pop their heads into the cafe to get a Mariner update. It was a lot of fun, and by the end of the year, I had reconciled myself to having the Dodgers in the NL and the Mariners in the AL.
In 97 and 98, my love for the Dodgers began to fade with the loss of Tommy Lasorda, the trade of Mike Piazza, and the sale of the team by the O'Mally family to Rupert Murdoch and the FOX Corp. I still wish them the best, but since that time I have been a full-fledged Mariner fan. So here I am, in Calhoun, Louisiana, cheering for the one team that is geographically further away from me than any other major league team. But the internet, Deacon Blues, and the Texas Rangers allow me to stay in touch. So all you Yankee fans can have the Babe, Mickey, Yogi, and Joe. Our history is just beginning, and I'm fine with that. I take just as much pride in Ichiro, Buhner, Moyer, and above all Edgar. Go M's.
Posted by at October 16, 2003 05:17 PMThe 86 postseason was some postseason. It still seems as if it were yesterday. The thing about Game 6 against the Astros was that Mike Scott was lurking in the shadows, waiting to take the ball in Game 7. There was a sense of desperation for the Mets going into Game 6, as if it was the seventh game, because Scott was so unhittable, especially the last month of the season.
Posted by: Tom at October 18, 2003 07:24 PMdaryl strawberry kicked ass back in the day. i used to love the mets, too. mookie wilson was my favorite on the team i think. i was four and he did have a cool name. strawberry had the next coolest name...strawberry. mmm.
Posted by: dp at October 23, 2003 01:41 AM