Last night Rick Ankiel saved the 2007 baseball season for me. No matter what team you are a fan of, this is exactly the kind of story that anyone can get behind and Ankiel is the kind of guy anyone can root for.
For Cardinals fans, it's especially gratifying. After last year's miracle, the team's biggest off-season aquisition Kip Wells (5-13) and the team made no significant upgrades on offense. Manager Tony LaRussa was arrested in March and charged with DUI and reliever Josh Hancock died in a car accident in which his blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit. The reason Ankiel was called up from was because Scott Spiezio has left the team to address alcohol and drug abuse. Consider the Cardinals 53-59 record, and this isn't exactly the kind of team that's easy to root for.
But Ankiel has once again made it okay to be a fan of the Redbirds. Even if he doesn't hit another major league home run and never makes it as a major league outfielder, Ankiel and the Cardinals fans will always have memories of last nights three-run home run. Unless you're a fan of the Red Sox or Yankees, you're not going to be in contention every year. That's what makes this story important -- sure, the Cardinals next team meeting may be an AA meeting, but at least now there is something we can root for.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment