May 16, 2014: The Hate Files

Hate is a strong word.  I really don’t like using it.  However, when it comes to certain individuals and teams that have “hurt me”, hate is an emotion that flows through me.  Most times it stems from a devastating loss… most times in the playoffs.  Sometimes it’s someone who injured or tried to injure a player.  Other times, it’s someone or some team who is a thorn in the side.  When it comes to MY teams, if you fall into any one of those 3 categories, you have most likely made it into a certain part of my heart called, the Hate Files.

I don’t like to remember these things, but I just can’t forget.  I really don’t like talking about it either, because it brings back that feeling, but it’s good therapy… or so they say.  After a while, the hate fades… most of the time.  Sometimes, it was or is so bad, that it is etched into my heart forever.  It’s not a good thing to carry around hate, so I bury it, into these confidential files.  You know, forgive but don’t forget.  As a TRUE fan, we have to deal with these traumatic experiences somehow.  We have to cope.

I feel like it was a lot easier for someone to make this list when I was younger, because now I’m older and wiser; but that’s not the case.  There are individuals/teams who come along even today, that force their way onto this list.  Just mentioning the name Lebron James makes the hate trickle.  But today, it’s not about him, or anybody in recent history; their day will come.  Today, it’s about that original hate.  It’s about that first person or team that “hurt me”.  It’s this person who opened up the Hate Files.

We have to go way back for this inaugural entry.  Let’s step into the time machine and head back to 1984.  I was 8 years old at the time.  The Cubs had just finished a magical regular season:  the “daily double”, the Ryne Sandberg game, Jody..Jody Davis, the Red Baron, big Lee Smith lumbering in from the bullpen as the shadows crept across the batter’s box.  This team was unforgettable.  I remember starting to watch that first playoff game in my 1st grade grammar school classroom.  After that 13-0 drubbing, and then in Game 2, winning 4-2, this team was one win away from the World Series.  I didn’t realize how HUGE that was at the time considering who we were talking about here, but I was super excited.  I don’t clearly remember every detail of each game after that, but I remember enough.  I remember enough for the hate to begin to flow…

Steve Garvey.  When I say the name, I get a headache.  I think I was crying when he rounded the bases after hitting that 2-run, walk off, game winning HR off of Lee Smith in the bottom of the 9th in Game 4.  (I also remember he had very hairy arms).  He finished with 5 RBI’s in that game.  He hit .400 and finished with 7 total RBI’s in the series.  We all know what happened in Game 5 with the groundball and Leon Durham, but it was that moment, THAT moment, that is etched in my heart.  It is that very moment of Steve Garvey rounding the bases that made me first realize what hate was.
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He represents the first devastating loss that I ever experienced.  He represents that first heartbreak.  I hate Steve Garvey for that… I hate him to this day.  That was supposed to be THE year.  It was supposed to be the Cubs-Tigers matchup in the World Series that year, the same Cubs-Tigers matchup that took place the last time the Cubs made it to the World Series back in 1945.  Instead it was the lowly Padres, who won 3 straight against the mighty Cubs, that advanced, and then promptly were eliminated 4-1 in the Series by the Tigers.

As I watched the Cubs lose again yesterday, and got upset, it doesn’t cause me hate.  If that were the case, I would hate a whole lot of individuals and teams.  There have been a lot of losses over the years to MY teams that made me upset, but didn’t make the hate level.

Game 4, 1984, Steve Garvey:  now that’s hate.  That is the first entry into the Hate Files.  I will be opening up and reviewing all the Hate Files in my blog.  After all, this blog is good therapy… that’s how it started, after the Cubs meltdown on the 100th anniversary of Wrigley Field.  I just couldn’t continue to experience this and NOT share it.  So, now’s your chance.  I know it’s Friday, but dig deep into those files.  Share that first hateful experience.  Get it out!  It’s good therapy…