So Long, Farewell

Just six weeks ago, I was in ecstasy. The St. Louis Cardinals, my favorite team in all of sports since I was 5, had come back from 10-1/2 games down in late August to win the World Series. Game 6 was the best game I had ever seen and my love of baseball was restored. I had lost the desire to watch it over the past few years. There seemed no loyalty anymore. Players were going here and going there and it just wasn’t any fun to watch, whether at home or at the ballpark . But then there was the 2011 St. Louis Cardinals. A team that wouldn’t quit no matter how bad it looked. It was lead by the greatest player in the game, Albert Pujols. A guy who loved the Lord, his family and (I thought) the St. Louis Cardinals and its fans.

Well, here we are on Dec. 8 and at least the last part of that statement has changed. Albert has left the best baseball town in America for the California Angels (I know they are the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, but I am having a moment, so just be quiet). The California Angels and $254 million. I can’t say I blame him, but I can say I, like many other fans, are heartbroken and will hate to see him go. For six beautiful weeks it wasn’t about the money, but about winning. Winning the World Series. I wasn’t a 47-year old guy with a dead-end job. I was a kid again watching my favorite team do something spectacular. Something I might never see again.  Six weeks later, it’s all about the money. Something I hoped I would never see again.

Thanks, Albert for 11 great years and six spectacular weeks. Best of luck in Disneyland.