Discussion Group

His 70'th birthday was a month ago, and this is something I wrote for him.

Let me start out by saying that I'm a child of a mixed marriage. Dad's a Chicago Cubs fan, and Mom follows the White Sox.

About a year ago, I wrote a short essay called For the Love of the Game, where I tried to describe why I'm a baseball fan. I gave several reasons for my love of the game, but there was one that I never mentioned in that essay. That reason was Dad.

This may seem surprising, given my ... less than stellar ... athleticism as a child, but, nevertheless, it's true.

I'm sure that, sports-wise, I was a disappointment to Dad, but he never showed me that. Instead, he encouraged me to take part in other things that I was better at. But I still learned about the game from him.

I remember going to watch Dad and the "Old Men" play in the Autonetics league. I remember watching games on TV with Dad, and we went to a few games out at the "Big A", and later, Dodger Stadium.

But what I still remember best is when we were in Boston, and Dad took me to the Red Sox pancake breakfast. We got a tour of Fenway, and the Sox joined their fans. It was the year after Yaz had won the Triple Crown, but I didn't know that, or even really care. The Angels were in town to play the Sox. And being from Orange County, I was an Angels fan.

Dad taught me that you stick with your team even when it's losing. Although my team has had more success in recent years, it was a tough row to hoe, especially with my sister bleeding Dodger Blue. But Dad never let yet another losing Cubs season get him down, and I did the same with the Angels - I always believed they could do it, and a couple of years ago, I (and all the Angels fans) was rewarded.

As a kid, I was clumsy and unathletic. Given that background, it's surprising that I'm starting my fifth season of playing softball. I'd like to rephrase the last paragraph of my essay now...

"I'm over forty, and my knees ache, and my elbow hurts after games. But I'll still keep on playing. For the love of the game... And Dad."