Thursday, March 5, 2009

Why Am I Still A Baseball Fan?

I'm not sure. I feel fairly certain though, that baseball doesn't want me to be a fan. I can sense as much in the desparity in team salaries and skyrocketting ticket prices. I'm constantly reminded by the media that baseball doesn't care about me every time I turn on ESPN to find the Yankees playing the Angels or the Red Sox playing the Mets. I can't remember Buster Onley ever mentioning the Reds in his "The good, the bad, and the ugly" segment on Mike and Mike in the Morning. Why would he? Baseball hates me.

I know the Reds organization doesn't care about my loyalty. All this has happened since the last time they went to the playoffs:
- Kentucky has 2 National Championships and 87 SEC Titles*
- The internet and cell phones have been invented by Al Gore**
- Haiti has seen 15 different Presidents***
- Our solar system has lost a planet****
- Late Night with Conan O'Brien has come and gone*****
Just this past season they traded away my favorite current player, Ryan Freel, to the Baltimore Orioles. That one really cut me deep, even though they've been trading away their best talent for decades.

I guess last season exemplifies why I'm still a fan. More specifically, the Tampa Bay Rays do. If they can go to the series, with a team salary of 20 bucks, why can't the Reds? That's right, there's no reason we can't. So that's my prediction for the season, Reds in 6 over the A's in October.

*Not quite
**Not entirely true
***Close to true
****Actually True
*****Almost