BY STEVE DUNN
It was 36 degrees in Pittsburgh when the 2016 MLB season officially began Sunday afternoon. If I had been closer, I would have welcomed the opportunity to be a semi-popsicle in the sunshine at Three Rivers. As it was, I watched it from the warm comfort of my living room on my computer screen. Like millions of Americans, joy had returned to Mudville. The baseball season was underway.
I have LOVED baseball since a child, a love that was multiplied when my Great Uncle Ernie Watkins would take us to the nosebleed seats of old Crosley Field to watch the Cincinnati Reds in play. Playing it as a kid and coaching added to my love of the game. And when living in northwest Ohio I discovered WJR in Detroit and Ernie Harwell, I was hooked on the Detroit Tigers for life. In high school, I still remember teachers who "cancelled" classes to allow us to watch the World Series.
And I remember the joy of watching my Tigers take down the vaunted Bob Gibson and the St. Louis for the World Series. That joy was repeated in 1983 when The Tigers led their division wire-to-wire, from opening day and every
day thereafter, culminating in the World Series championship against San Diego. This had
not been done in the major leagues since the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers. With that win Sparky Anderson became the first manager to win the World Series in both leagues.
I started playing Fantasy Baseball in 2007 and have had a few winners along the way. In 2012, the house I was renting was connected with Direct TV and MLB Baseball, a service I have kept since as my daily thirst for baseball is fed by a plethora of baseball shows and games--and the sleepless nights redeemed by Quick Pitch. Heidi Whatney and her crew.
My Tigers collapsed last year, a collapse hastened when the general manager sold or traded the heart of the pitching staff and the explosive Yolando Cespedes.
But already MLB is predicting that my Tigers have a chance to reclaim the AL Central and some have suggested that will represent the AL in the World Series against the San Francisco Giants.
I am ready, Play Ball Already!
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