(Today is "National Watermelon Day." How about that? I've got one in the fridge. I'm all set. And I've got a bunch of baseball cards, too. So it's time for Cardboard Appreciation and the 42nd in a series):
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I am going to have to make this my business card.
Here is why. I hope it makes sense:
I am forever trying to get across to people who don't enjoy baseball as much as I do exactly how much I care about the sport. I try to find some story, some analogy, something that will turn on that light bulb above their head, so that they never buy me socks for Christmas ever again.
I'm still searching for the perfect illustration. Right now my response is exactly what is demonstrated on the card above. Because when I'm trying to explain to someone what my ideal afternoon is, I say that it is watching the Pirates and Brewers on TV.
Now, this might not make sense to someone in the Midwest, particularly folks in Wisconsin, where the Brewers are part of the daily conversation during the summer. But in my part of the Northeast, you could not pick two teams that are less in the public consciousness than the Pirates and the Brewers. Here, it is all about the Yankees and the Red Sox, and sometimes the Mets, Phillies and the Braves. Other teams float in and out of the public arena, but I could run out on the street right now and ask 50 random people to name someone on the Pirates or Brewers and no one could name a single one.
So my point when I say that I want to watch the Pirates and Brewers on TV is that I love baseball so much that I want to seek out the teams I never see, two teams that everyone else would consider "boring." I want to learn who the back-up catcher is for the Pirates and who the 6th-inning relief man is for the Brewers. I can see the Yankees and Red Sox anytime I want (which is why I loathe when ESPN makes that game their 'Sunday Night Game of the Week'). I get sick to death of those guys. Give me the Pirates and Brewers.
Give me Prince Fielder holding on Freddy Sanchez, or whoever is playing third base for the Pirates these days now that Sanchez has been traded (See, I don't know).
Though the stands may be empty when the two play each other, that's a game I can appreciate. And the 2009 OPC Prince Fielder is a card I can appreciate. ... Sir or madam? My card.
_NEW.jpg)
I am going to have to make this my business card.Here is why. I hope it makes sense:
I am forever trying to get across to people who don't enjoy baseball as much as I do exactly how much I care about the sport. I try to find some story, some analogy, something that will turn on that light bulb above their head, so that they never buy me socks for Christmas ever again.
I'm still searching for the perfect illustration. Right now my response is exactly what is demonstrated on the card above. Because when I'm trying to explain to someone what my ideal afternoon is, I say that it is watching the Pirates and Brewers on TV.
Now, this might not make sense to someone in the Midwest, particularly folks in Wisconsin, where the Brewers are part of the daily conversation during the summer. But in my part of the Northeast, you could not pick two teams that are less in the public consciousness than the Pirates and the Brewers. Here, it is all about the Yankees and the Red Sox, and sometimes the Mets, Phillies and the Braves. Other teams float in and out of the public arena, but I could run out on the street right now and ask 50 random people to name someone on the Pirates or Brewers and no one could name a single one.
So my point when I say that I want to watch the Pirates and Brewers on TV is that I love baseball so much that I want to seek out the teams I never see, two teams that everyone else would consider "boring." I want to learn who the back-up catcher is for the Pirates and who the 6th-inning relief man is for the Brewers. I can see the Yankees and Red Sox anytime I want (which is why I loathe when ESPN makes that game their 'Sunday Night Game of the Week'). I get sick to death of those guys. Give me the Pirates and Brewers.
Give me Prince Fielder holding on Freddy Sanchez, or whoever is playing third base for the Pirates these days now that Sanchez has been traded (See, I don't know).
Though the stands may be empty when the two play each other, that's a game I can appreciate. And the 2009 OPC Prince Fielder is a card I can appreciate. ... Sir or madam? My card.
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