My favorite talking head, Keith Olbermann, is also a lover of all things baseball as well. He even has a blog on MLB.com that he calls Baseball Nerd. It warms the cockles of my little black heart to know that the man who epitomizes leftwing values loves the sport of baseball as much, if not more, than I do.
The sport of baseball has a wonderful way of crossing political party lines. Even the asshat George Will worships baseball. I am fairly certain that the only thing Will and I have in common is our love of the sport. Will is fond of saying he only writes about politics to support his baseball habit.
Today George has an article up at WaPo that isn’t about politics..it’s about baseball. I know for a fact that I could sit and talk for hours and hours with George Will as long as the subject was baseball. The sport is a great equalizer and when I was a young hothead, the only time my father and I could stand each other was when we were watching, listening or talking about baseball. My fathers favorite word to describe me back then was…Commie. We had screaming matches about politics that would drive everyone else from the room. Our discussion’s would end with my father screaming that I was a commie-pinko and I would respond in kind.
But when the subject was baseball, we would be good to each other. Even when we loved different teams, we never got ugly or foul-mouthed towards each other. The best memories of my childhood are of my father and I listening to his beloved Dodgers on the radio and talking baseball.
As an adult I hate the Dodgers, being a Padres fan and all. The Ball n’ Chain is a lifelong Dodger fan as well. Both of us have waited for this day all winter. We both participate in Fantasy Baseball leagues and I love that my spouse comes to me for advice on players to draft…it means I know more than he does about our national pastime.
Keith and George however, know far more than I regarding the history of baseball. So that means I read their baseball columns religiously.
Speakiing of religion..Yes, I do worship at the Church of MLB. It’s the only church I know where people who vehemently disagree can still be friends and lovers. And that is a wonderful thing indeed.
So I gotta cut this short as it’s time for church. ;)
