Baseball

Yes, although I live in Chicago, I am a big St. Louis Cardinals fan. And I have no problem letting all my Chicago friends know that too. The biggest influence on me becoming a Cardinals fan is my grandmother. When I was about 7 or 8 years old and starting to show some interest in sports, she would always talk about the Cardinals and in our letters we would write about them to each other.

She was a big fan of Ozzie Smith because he did back flips on the field, although I think her favorite player overall was Pete Rose because he always ran hard to first base, even on walks. As I watched more baseball, I became a huge fan of Whiteyball, and I still miss the game of the 80s. Home runs are fun, but it was fun watching those speedy Cardinals teams of the 80s. With Vince Coleman and Ozzie Smith on the basepaths, it wasn't a matter of if they were going to steal a base, but when. It seems like ages since I have seen a double steal, which is my favorite play in the sport (except maybe an unassisted triple play).

Both my Grandma and Grandpa influenced my interest in sports. New Year's Day is probably the day I miss Grandpa Leo the most because when we would visit over the holidays we would spend all day watching the bowl games. I would pick one team to root for (I usually hadn't heard of either team) and he would pick the other and we would watch the games. I can't remember if we kept a running score of who won the most.

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