If it’s October then baseball is ubiquitous. And if your hometown team is in the playoffs, you better eat, sleep and breathe baseball – there is no other choice: you will be shunned; voted off the island; become a social pariah; be further down on the list of hated individuals than He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named (hint: not Voldemort) if you even think of another sport. There is only one sport that matters in St. Louis this October, and it’s not college football.
I feel like the number one question everyone is asking is: you’re a baseball fan, aren’t you? Um – what are you going to do to me if I say no, or only in the postseason? I have images of tar and red feathers dancing through my head (yes, my punishment will be to look like Fredbird. Can I just say that everything I know about baseball is from the song, “Take Me Out to the Ballgame.” When talking to most (rabid) baseball fans, this is not something one should mention (see: tar and feathering).
Postseason fever has taken over my city, and it’s contagious because I think I’ve got a severe case of it (have you seen my Twitter feed lately?). I think of it as less of being sucked in by a sport, and more of showing my hometown pride . . . or maybe I was sucked in by the enthusiasm around the sport – I mean, check out the catch at the wall by Jon Jay (next to Tony La Russa’s face no less).
Even though I don’t know much about the sport (like, what is a wildcard anyway?) I know enough to pray at the statue of Stan “The Man” Musical, take any and all superstitions seriously, and – most importantly – have fun watching games with friends; postseason baseball is about having fun – even if you don’t really like the sport (waves hand) there is still something about getting together with friends and “root, root, rooting for the home team” that has made October just a little brighter.
GO CARDS!!! #12 in ’12!!!!
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