Play Ball!!

It's a great day to be a Texas Rangers fan!

Last night, I sat in utter astonishment as the team that I have routed for my entire life won the American League Championship Series. This nn contrast to their win for the American League Division Series where I was jumping up and down, dancing, and doing this internal squeal because the rest of my family was sound asleep. For the ALCS win, I was elated to the point of not really believing it. It took all of five minutes for it to set in, and then, I jumped in my car, drove fifteen minutes to the nearest big city to purchase one of the last ALCS Championship t-shirts. At 10:35 p.m., they were sold out. I was lucky to get what I did. Granted, I could wait till Tuesday when they have a million shirts, but for someone who has attended Ranger games, listened to them on the radio and watched them on TV, and memorized the roster year after year, I had to show my respect by a late-night drive to purchase a t-shirt.

My husband has been giving me grief about my division championship t-shirts. I bought two! I wear one, then wash it the next day, while wearing the second. On the off chance that I don't have time to do laundry that day, I also bought a Hamilton jersey t-shirt to wear in between the division championship t-shirts. Alas, I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing my team do so well this season.

All of this is my dad's fault. Yes, I blame him for my baseball enthusiasm. It started on a beautiful Sunday afternoon when he rounded up my sisters and I and took us into the backyard. He presented each of us with these large, uncomfortable, plastic gloves and showed us this large, bright orange softball. While it may have been a softball, the game he taught us was clearly referred to as baseball.

That day he taught us the fundamentals of a game that we would all fall in love with. It was the beginning of many a Sunday afternoon spent playing our four-person version of baseball.

Near the beginning of baseball season, we would rent every baseball movie the library had in stock. Our favorite was The Sandlot. It's still a favorite to this day. Then, baseball season would begin. We didn't watch every single game on tv, but we watched quite a few. We attended at least one game a season, a tradition that I continued through college and until I married and moved to far from the stadium to make attendance easy.

We are passing on the tradition to our own Snugglebug. We introduced him to baseball while on vacation this summer via The Little League World Series! Another family staple around here is the LLWS. We don't miss it!

Each night in our hotel room, we would snuggle down under the covers and watch the boys play ball. Even two-year old Snugglebug watched all six innings. Who would have ever guessed that a little one would sit still that long?

When we got home, we purchased him a t-ball set and started our lessons of baseball. When the Rangers' games start, he gets out his t-ball set and bats when they bat. If he isn't batting, he is sitting next to his daddy, watching the game. We let him stay up a little past his bedtime, so he can watch part of the game with us.

For you football fans, you shouldn't worry. We are great believers in a well-rounded education and his daddy is teaching him the ins and outs of football and even tosses a small, plastic football with him in the backyard. But, this post is about baseball and the glory of what is OCTOBER and the WORLD SERIES!!

LET'S GO RANGERS! LET'S GO! LET'S GO RANGERS! LET'S GO!