you'd think i would have outgrown this by now. and yet i find myself at middle age, with family house and career, still tangled up in a boy's game. i've come close to moving on a few times, leaving the cardinals behind with other childish things. stayed away for two full years after the strike in '94. but it's like michael corleone says in godfather III: "just when I thought that i was OUT . . . ."

they always pull you back in.

for those too young to remember, "el birdos" was cha-cha cepeda's nickname for the '67 cardinals, who won the world series in 7 games over the boston red sox. "el birdos" captured a certain spirit which that particular group of cardinals possessed, and which i hope Viva El Birdos will emulate. those guys -- gibson brock flood mccarver carlton shannon maris maxvill briles hoerner et alia -- took their baseball very seriously. during games they suffered no bullshit. but before and after those 9 innings, man did they have fun.

and that's what i hope we're gonna do here -- take our baseball seriously and in proportion. by "in proportion" i mean discuss it debate it relive it dissect it obsess over it wallow in it rise above it . . . . but come what may enjoy it. we put in our 9 daily innings at the office, the job site, the classroom, wherever; with our families and our work. that's the suffer-no-bullshit part of our lives. and this is the suffer-it-gladly part, the stuff we all should've outgrown by now.

but damn, i'm glad i haven't.

hope Viva El Birdos pulls you back in -- or pulls you in deeper.

originally posted May 13, 2005