The boys of summer

September 29, 2006

If I was an Englishman, I would no doubt be a cricket fan, but I’m not, so it’s baseball for me. Listening on the radio (remember that?) to the St. Louis Cardinals slug their way through a 162-game schedule from April through September is a big part of my summer. It’s obvious by now that summer 2006 will not go down in Cardinal Nation as a particularly memorable one, but that’s okay. It’s baseball at the professional level (most of the time), and that’s enough.

But what a spectacle I’ve witnessed this summer, seeing a starting rotation dwindling to a single arm; power at the plate to a single bat. As I continued to listen with morbid fascination, the Cards’ central division lead has shrunk to half a game after holding a lead all summer, and I rather imagine that it will disappear completely tonight.

I’d say that I’m starting to feel like a Cubs fan, except that they actually enjoy their adversity. Or a Royals fan who is learning to enjoy it.

Hark! Is that really a boo-bird I heard as Jason Marquis slinks away from the mound to an early shower?

Dave, hoping for a chance to say “sticky wicket,” but not knowing what it means.

Posted by Dave | Filed Under General