I rarely talk about the game itself. My love for baseball happened to start with cards and my love of collecting. I enjoy watching games, and I played as a kid.
I find it hard to be attached to a team. For one, I wasn't brought up as a die-hard fan. Setting those roots can make a big difference. Instead, I was taken to a few games here and there - Giants, A's, Tigers, and even an Angels game. Being local to the Bay Area, I attached myself to the A's in they're dynasty years, but then I moved to Atlanta and became a Braves fan.
I cheered on the Braves as Sid Bream rounded third in 1992, I saw the Braves clinch the 1993 Western Division title in person. I was there for Hank Aaron Day in 1994.
I faded from interest in baseball in the late '90s. I was in college. My interests weren't exactly clean. But I came back (we all return some time, don't we?) and continued to cheer on the Braves. But in those past seven years, I have become even less of a team fan, and more of an all-around baseball fan. I have scheduled most of my vacation trips around baseball teams and schedules, in both major and minor leagues. I enjoy rooting for teams even if I have no ties to them. Most of my favorite players lie outside "my" teams.
That said, the Giants were my first home team, and even living in Georgia I've made it a point to see the Giants in Atlanta and San Francisco multiple times. I reignited my interest in the A's when they started their "Green Collar" campaign, and I still have interest in the Tigers and Braves.
I don't write much about it here since I don't live or die by these teams' successes and failures, but I check the standings from time to time. I get daily scores and news updates through my iPod, and if I'm not watching movies or TV shows on Netflix (my favorite at-home time waster) I'll keep an eye on SportsCenter or MLB Network.
I've been keeping an eye on things more this past week or so. The A's are shot. Will they ever have a chance of success again? I suppose they could still pull out a winning record. While the Indians and White Sox are still pretty close, the Tigers are holding court over the AL Central pretty well. The Braves are a long way from first in the NL East, but have about as good a hold on the wild card as the Tigers do in their division.
What about the Giants? They're my home team. I live in San Francisco, and they're the reigning World Champions. They've gone 2-8 in their last 10 games and are only half a game up on the D-Backs. They're beginning a series against the Pirates, who have lost their last 10 games. Odds are, they'll break that streak against the Giants. Meanwhile, the D-Backs are going up against the Astros, the worst team in baseball (sorry, Sam).
I'm off to the ballpark for Wednesday's game. Hopefully we'll be a couple games ahead of Arizona by then. Either way, I suppose the word "torture" will be back again. After being here in SF for about two weeks, I was sick of seeing it. If you want to know torture, be a Cubs fan. Or an Indians fan. Or work for the government. Or live in North Korea. Or be an unwilling sex slave for a sadistic hairy five-foot tall 300-pound 50 year old man. That would be torture.
Go Giants!
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