If I broke my baseball cherry in 1983, it was 1984 where the baseball memories really started to build. I certainly remember the hot start by the eventual champion Detroit Tigers. Each day for breakfast, reading the Sun Times at the table, checking the standings. 35-5 at one point. The Tigers seemed destined to win that year. But of course their would be a National League opponent. And we know who that should have been… Yes, for most of 1984, it was one of the best baseball years of my life.
It all started at the top of the lineup with the Daily Double. Bob Dernier, or Bobby D as we use to call him, followed by Ryne Sandberg aka Ryno; they would provide many great moments all summer long. It’s funny all the nicknames on this team; maybe that’s one indication of how good they were. The Sarge Gary Matthews always knocking his helmet off as he ran around the bases. The Penguin Ron Cey looking funny as hell rounding the bases. The Bull Leon Durham; does anybody else remember those Pepe’s commercials with him and our HOF closer Lee Smith? Then there was the Red Baron Rick Sutcliffe who came over in the middle of the year and only went 16-1, leading us down the stretch. I remember when he got a strikeout for that 27th out against the Pirates to clinch the NL East. The Cubbies were heading to the playoffs, and after jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the NLCS, seemed destined themselves for that World Series. A Cubs Tigers World Series would have been a classic… Instead we were left watching the team with quite possibly the ugliest uniforms in baseball history get their asses kicked.
When MLB brought that uniform style back for the All Star game a few years back, I wanted to puke. I know the Cubs had a lot of All Stars that year, but who the hell would buy one of those jerseys? First of all, flat out ugly; secondly, the memories that are linked to those jerseys… I kind of teared up watching this episode of Baseball Seasons even though I knew what was going to happen. Yeah, heading across the country to San Diego to play the Padres, it was supposed to be a celebration; instead it was the first heartbreak of my young die hard fan’s life. As we all know, so I’m not going to dwell on it too much, the Padres came back and won 3 straight. That whole team makes me sick. I ended up appreciating Tony Gwynn eventually, but even he wasn’t immune to it. And when Fat Tony Gwynn relived the moment in an interview that crushed my soul, that moment when that hairy armed bastard Steve Garvey sent a ball over the fence walking off against the Cubs in Game 4, I felt sick. Yeah, what a way for this magical season to end; enough said.
First was the worry about the failure to perform at all and then inevitably it moved on to not being able to have an erection is much more than http://respitecaresa.org/author/jbuser/ purchase cheap levitra a weakness. ED is a medical condition and diagnosed by a health professional, this is the reason why a many men avoids it and hide it from family, relatives levitra online purchase and friends as they feel embarrassed and uncomfortable discussing this sudden change of events in his life. According to recent stats, millions of men, worldwide, experience some degree generic levitra professional of sexual issues that affect their performance in the bedroom. Even the worldwide social networking sites like facebook and orkut face this problem and they have their fair share of spams on their network. cialis wholesale pricesI was glad to see the Tigers beat them down in the World Series. And oh yeah, the fact that the Padres still have never won a World Series, warms my heart. I know they have some great players this year; heck, prompted by my son, I even picked Tatis Jr in my fantasy baseball draft the other day. I don’t hate the Padres as much as 37 years ago, but I silently wouldn’t mind that they never hoist that trophy. Funny moment in the World Series that I didn’t recall was when Gibson hit the 3 run home run in Game 5 off of Goose Gossage to pretty much put the clinching game out of reach. San Diego manager Dick Williams put up the 4 to walk Gibson with a base open, 1 out, and runners at 2nd and 3rd. Goose shook him off, so there was a meeting on the mound. Detroit manager Sparky Anderson was watching closely, and as Goose convinced Dick to let him pitch to him, Sparky made sure to let Kirk know. “He didn’t want to walk you”. Kirk in his interview said he just looked up into the right field seats, envisioning it, and then promptly hit one there; that was pretty cool. It couldn’t have happened to a better team.
Yes, the Tigers had an awesome team that year too; it would have been fun to see what would have happened if we were there, like we should have been. This would definitely be one of those moments where I’d like to go back and see the alternate ending play out. Oh well… I’ll still remember 1984 as the year when my love for baseball and the Cubs became official. It would only grow from here. Although I’d only have to wait 5 years for the Cubs to be back in the postseason, little did I know, I’d have to wait so long to see the Cubs raise that trophy; I’m just glad I finally saw it though. Finally winning that World Series helped heal a lot of old wounds, including what the Padres did to us in 1984. Those feelings, those memories are still there, but one supersedes them all. OK back to the present day…
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