The old ball game

 I follow several pretty good baseball fan pages on social media (and have given up on several others.) I like a page where people swap information, bring up little-known facts about players and teams current and backdated, and share pictures. The ones I can't stand are the opinion pieces that invariably start off with something like "Mike Schmidt was the greatest third baseman ever, no debate, don't even talk to me about it." And of course, the popular "Joe Schlabotnick couldn't carry Harry O'Hoolahan's glove." Everyone has their favorite players, and why would I debate someone else's choice? Facts and statistics are one thing, but we all decide on our favorites and least favorites. 

Now, some people have a favorite thing about baseball, and that's when their favorite team is winning. Not so much when they lose...which is what got me interested in the post a Yankee fan made a couple of weeks ago, something to the point of "Have you ever stayed loyal to your team even when you know they're going to be bad?"

I am an Oriole fan, and have been one since age six, and I am well past my three-score and ten now. I have seen three World Series Championships (1966, 1970, 1983) and a whole lot of lost games over the years. All I ever ask is that I see professional effort from the team, and there have been very few times I was disappointed in that aspect. Like someone said, there's no such thing as bad pizza, and if you are a major league baseball player, you are among the best at your job in all the world. I enjoy the game for the pleasure of seeing it played.

Besides which, I don't base my happiness on whether or not the Orioles won last night or not. Some people do, and that's a shame, because taking credit or blame for the actions of other people when they win or lose is a real stretch.

And as I always say, I love baseball because it's the only place a man with a name like "Cookie" or "Tomato Face" can find honest employment. You'd never want to introduce anyone to your spine surgeon, Dr Tomato Face Cullop, but as your right fielder, Nick "Tomato Face" Cullop was good to know.