the quest for 30

The MLB Stadium Challenge. Truth be told, I’m not sure if the fascination with baseball (and this challenge) started in 1987, 1991 or 2004. 

Let’s not kid ourselves, I wasn’t even a thought in 1987. However, my family intently watched as the former Washington Senators were going for their first World Series win as the Minnesota Twins. Whether it was Kirby Puckett’s triple in the eighth inning of Game 3 which helped us recoup in 1987 or Puckett’s game-winning home run in the 11th inning in 1991, baseball become a pretty integral part of my childhood. 

Then in 2004, came the “Bloody Sock” game. That year’s World Series, my parents would have our Grandma pick us up from school or whatever after-school practice we were at. While Grandma would cook dinner, I’d finish homework at the kitchen island. My family, a healthy fusion of “yours, mine, and ours”, would then all make their way over and we’d have dinner together; my Dad, Grandpa and I would read the newspaper. 

To this day, I love the smell of a newspaper and the sound of the pages crinkling as you turn them. *sighs* But I digress. 

As soon as the game would come on, we’d fold up those newspapers and gather in the living room to watch the Red Sox attempt to break their 86-year-old World Series chokehold. They were struggling and by the time Game 3 ended, they were down bad. Somehow, they rallied and Game 4 turned into Game 6. And that game… my god that game! I sat, for hours, enamored by Curt Schilling pitching through the pain, his sock slowly evolving from pink to dark red, and giving his team everything he had. It was the reason I went out for softball the following year and played through my middle and high school years. My position? Left Fielder and for games where my arm was feeling a bit more weak, I was a Designated Hitter. Discern from that what you will *laughs*.