My first brush with the World Series came in 1986, when the Boston Red Sox went against the New York Mets (and Bill Buckner fumbled his way into the history books for all the wrong reasons). I was in the sixth grade, and the only kid in my class who was routing for Boston, so Mr. Buckner left me with pie on my face when they came so close to winning but didn’t. While personally unscarred from that experience (I gave the kids more to hate than my love for the Red Sox), I stayed clear of baseball stuff until the Red Sox were again in the running in 2004 (when they finally beat the curse). Aside from those two years, the closest I came to the World Series was in the lyrics of Prince’s ‘U Got the Look’ ~ Boy versus girl in the World Series of Love.
This year the San Francisco Giants are squaring off against the Detroit Tigers – two teams I remember from my all-too-brief baseball-card-collecting frenzy of 1985. In honor of that, I’ve borrowed a bat from my brother, slipped on a sports jock, and will bring you those photos in a few posts. It may not match the heights of this year’s Super Bowl excitement (without Madonna nothing can come close), but I’ll do my best. As for who I’m rooting for, I’m going with the Detroit Tigers. Don’t ask me why – I felt closer to them in 1985, and I feel closer to them now.
