Boys of summer

So tonight, I spent some time watching the Cards/Cubs game on WGN and engaging in some smack talk on twitter about that rivalry. And while my friend Bob swears that the Cards are his second favorite baseball team after the Cubs, I don’t believe that’s possible. The two are mutually exclusive. Seriously. (Or at least in my way of looking at things.) All that said, I’ll just make this post short and sweet. Here are some reasons I love baseball, particularly Cardinals baseball:

• The Cardinal Nation

• Albert Pujols

• Making fun of Tony LaRussa’s hair and/or glasses with my mom

• Grand slams and game-winning homeruns

• the Cards/Cubs rivalry (yes, yes, it’s really part of what makes baseball great)

• Busch Stadium (there’s nothing like watching a game in StL. Nothing. Even if your seats are bad like mine usually are. The goal (right, Janice?) is to one day watch the Cards vs. Cubs at Wrigley, but we haven’t quite gotten there yet. I’m just missing the Cubs/Cards series in Chicago when I go there in a few weeks for Folio. It’s at the same time as my brother’s ordination, and I don’t think skipping that for baseball would be considered acceptable!

• Baseball pants

• the World Series, even though the Cards won’t be there this year.

• the hope that one day the Cardinals will think having an almost 30-year-old woman as a “batgirl” would be a good idea. And in case you don’t understand that, said batgirl would be ME!

• The fact that my dog still goes to look for her ball when we call her Muffie McGwire.

• Mike Shannon, the Cards announcer. And the memory of Jack Buck. “That’s a winner!

• popcorn, hotdogs, nachos and every other ballpark snack

• Ryan Ludwick and Rick Ankiel

• The Cards playing a better season than I thought possible

• Smack talk with Bob at work and long conversations about pitching with Mike Wakefield. I mostly just lament, he uses actual baseball terms.

• When my brother includes the Cards in his prayers. Seriously. At lunch.

• The eternal hope for post-season play

• “Take me out to the ballgame”

• The joy of the game! 🙂