Although my father and I have spent many hours immersed in baseball either playing or discussing it, my mother is the one who actually gets the credit for sparking my passion for the game.

Although my father and I have spent many hours immersed in baseball either playing or discussing it, my mother is the one who actually gets the credit for sparking my passion for the game.   

In June 1980, my mother took my siblings and I to the Thunder Bay Mall to do some shopping on a Saturday afternoon.  I remember relatively little about that trip.  What 7-year-old boy wants to go clothes shopping anyway?  I do remember being inside that bookstore, however.  I also remember being drawn to that book.    

To be precise, it was Zander Hollander’s 1980 Complete Handbook of Baseball.   Pittsburgh Pirates legend Willie “Pops” Stargell was on the front cover wearing the Bucs’ silly yellow softball jersey.  The Bucs had won the 1979 World Series on Stargell’s broad shoulders.  Stargell was named the co-winner of the National League MVP, sharing the honor with Keith Hernandez of the St. Louis Cardinals.  On the back cover was a picture of Baltimore Orioles southpaw pitcher Mike Flanagan wearing an orange jersey completing his wind-up that earned him the 1979 American League Cy Young Award.  

It wasn’t that I was unaware of baseball.  I certainly knew about Willie Stargell.  He broke the hearts of Montreal Expos fans with his prodigious homeruns that would deny Canada’s first team a post-season berth.  Even in his late 30s, Stargell commanded respect.

I also had a few baseball cards.  My favorite card was that of Los Angeles Dodgers’ outfielder Rick Monday holding out his glove waiting to the catch the ball.

My mother, too, was captured by the book.  She bought it.  For my father.  Somehow the book never touched my father’s hands.   I immediately began to devour the book, which contained information on all 26 major league teams (there are now 30) with profiles of players on every team.  Within a year, the book would be ripped apart.  Not out of negligence but because I was absorbing all the information therein.   

I still remember that Cleveland Indians catcher Gary Alexander didn’t care how many times he struck out as long as he got his 25 homeruns a season.  I still remember that Detroit Tigers catcher Lance Parrish once served as Tina Turner’s bodyguard.  I still remember that pitcher John Curtis, who had been acquired by the San Diego Padres from the San Francisco Giants, was an essayist.  I still remember that Baltimore Orioles pitcher Dennis Martinez’s favorite word was “man.”  I still remember the picture of California Angels slugger Don Baylor down on one knee in the on deck circle.  Baylor had been the American League MVP in 1979, helping the Angels win their first American League West division crown.  I remember that Dave Kingman hit 48 homeruns for the Cubs in 1979 with a respectable .288 batting average.  I remember that Joe Torre was managing in New York — for the Mets.    Torre’s best player that year was a young outfielder named Lee Mazzilli, who would later become his first base coach with the Yankees.

I would attend my first major league game in Montreal the following season.  On August 30, 1981, my father, maternal grandfather and I took a bus from Ottawa to Montreal to see the Expos play the Atlanta Braves.  Before the game, there was an egg throwing and cow milking contest.  Expos relief pitcher Woody “Farmer” Fryman won the cow milking contest.  I also remember being mesmerized by the Expos’ mascot, Youppi!  I came within inches of touching the hand of Youppi!  Future Hall of Fame inductee Phil Niekro got the start for the Braves while the Expos countered with Bill Gullickson.  The game would go into extra innings with the Braves winning 5-4 in 12 innings on a double by Atlanta outfielder Terry Harper off Woody Fryman.  He might have been the cow milking champion, but Fryman was the losing pitcher.

Eight days later, the Expos would fire manager Dick Williams despite being a legitimate contender for the National League East.    Williams was replaced by Jim Fanning and despite Fanning’s managerial inexperience, the Expos made their first and only post-season appearance.

On an overcast Monday afternoon in October I was walking home from school hoping to catch the remainder of Game 5 of the National League Championship Series between the Expos and the Los Angeles Dodgers.  At the time the league championship series were the best three out of five, so this was the deciding game.  As I was about to cross the street to enter my house I was stopped by one of my classmates, Fred Bell.  Out of breath, Fred told me that the Dodgers won on a homerun.  “By who?  Was it Rick Monday?”, I demand to know.  But Fred did not know.  Yet I knew.

Even though Rick Monday was a bench player at this stage of his career, I had a weird feeling that my favorite team had just been beaten by my favorite player.  Montreal fans still refer to that afternoon as “Blue Monday.”

This served as the foundation for the love of baseball that I have to this day.    

Some have given up on baseball.  For many, it was the 1994 strike.  That was certainly the case for Montreal Expos fans.  The Expos had the best record in baseball that ill fated season.  The team included the likes of Pedro Martinez, Larry Walker, Andres Galaragga, Marquis Grissom, Rondell White, Jeff Fassero, John Wetteland, Ken Hill and Dennis Martinez, amongst others.  1994 was the Expos’ year.  If there had been a postseason and had Montreal been a part of it, perhaps Youppi! would not be wearing a Montreal Canadiens jersey and cap.   

More recently it has been the steroids scandal that has driven some fans away.  Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa — who were so beloved by America seven years ago — have become reviled figures whose achievements were allegedly accomplished by the injection of a needle rather than the swinging of a bat.  Fairly or unfairly, Barry Bonds’ chase for Hank Aaron’s homerun record is under a cloud for that same reason.  It certainly contributed to Bonds’ absence from baseball most of this season.   

The 10-game suspension of Rafael Palmeiro after testing positive for steroids perhaps did the most damage.  The test came back only weeks after Palmeiro had collected his 3000th hit — a sure marker of a Hall of Famer.  Only months earlier, Palmeiro had testified before Congress that he never used steroids, and that public declaration may have done more damage than anything else.  Or perhaps accusing teammate Miguel Tejada of supplying him with steroids.

Yet Baseball has survived scandal, disgrace and disfavor before and it will do so again.  As with every love affair, there are moments sour and full of sorrow.  There have been some things about baseball that have bothered me.  I was always cool to the idea of interleague play.  As far as I am concerned, the American League and National League are two separate universes that should only collide at the All-Star Game and at the World Series.  But would I turn down two loge seat tickets to a Boston Red Sox-Atlanta Braves game?  Hell no!!!   

Nor did I like it when Commissioner Bud Selig decided to call the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee a tie.  I had a bad feeling about the outcome of that game when Rudy Giuliani was sitting in the American League dugout with Joe Torre.  Now I love Giuliani and think he should run for President.  But Rudy Giuliani has no business being in the dugout during the game unless he suits up and coaches third base.  Fans did not spend hundreds of dollars to see a tie.  This is not hockey.  But Selig came up with a good remedy.   The league that wins the All-Star Game gets home field advantage in the World Series.  No more ties except when visiting the President at the White House.

Despite these irritants, clouds do not permanently hover and rain does not forever fall.   Sunshine always peaks on the horizon.    Evidently I am not alone, as more than 73 million went through the turnstiles at Major League ballparks during the 2005 season — an all-time high.  So there is much to celebrate about Major League Baseball.  Here are just a few for your consideration:

1.  Red Sox-Yankees – Major League Baseball scheduled the Sox and Yanks to face each other in the very first series of the regular season and the very last series of the regular season.  As I write this, it is the next to last day of the regular season.  The Sox and Yanks are tied for first place in the American League East.  Even though Sox fans got our long awaited World Series trophy last year, why settle for one?  A World Series trophy might have mellowed a cold New England winter but it has not satiated our appetites as can be judged by the 200 plus sell outs at Fenway Park.    

[P.S. The Yankees have clinched the AL East with an 8-4 victory despite two homeruns by Manny Ramirez.  However, the Red Sox still have a chance to win the AL Wild Card.  Should the Yankees edge the Angels and the Bosox beat the Chisox, fans will see the Red Sox and the Yankees in the ALCS for the third straight season.  This would be baseball’s Ali-Frazier.]

2. David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox – My pick for the American League MVP.  He embodies the spirit of the Bambino.  We would have to use every one of our appendages and then some to count how many clutch hits he has had for the Red Sox since joining the team as a free agent in 2003.  He did so again this past Thursday against the Toronto Blue Jays by hitting a game tying homerun in the 8th and hitting a game winning single in the 9th.  One must remember that Ortiz was released by the Minnesota Twins at the end of the 2002 season despite hitting 20 homeruns and knocking in 75 runs.  The lack of a consistent power hitter has kept the Twins from advancing in the post season and perhaps caused them to miss the post season altogether this year.    

Yet the Red Sox almost did not appreciate what they acquired.  In the first two months of the 2003 season, Ortiz was a bench player backing up Jeremy Giambi.  As of this writing, Ortiz has 119 homeruns and has knocked in 387 runs since joining the Bosox.    Red Sox Nation is eternally grateful.    

3. Aaron Small, New York Yankees -  The New York Yankees acquired Hall of Fame bound pitcher Randy Johnson from the Arizona Diamondbacks with a great deal of fanfare.  They also signed pitchers Carl Pavano and Jaret Wright.  Although Johnson did eventually find his way, winning 17 games this season, he struggled in the early part in 2005.  Pavano and Wright were plagued by injuries as was Yankee veteran Mike Mussina.    

The Yankees got their pitching done by Taiwanese import Chien-Ming Wong and Shawn Chacon, a mid-season acquisition from the Colorado Rockies.  But the greatest surprise of them all has to be Aaron Small.

The 33-year old righthander was brought up to the Yankees in July almost as an afterthought.  Small was a 22nd round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1989 and did not make his big league debut with them until 1994.  Small has also pitched with the Oakland Athletics, Atlanta Braves, Arizona Diamondbacks and two stints with the Florida Marlins.  He only won 15 major league games in nearly a decade of service.  Last season, Small pitched in 7 games, giving up 15 runs in 16 innings pitched for the Marlins.    There was little indication of what was to come.

All Small has done is go 10-0 with the Yankees.  A journeyman pitcher shines in the brightest lights of them all.  If not for Aaron Small, the games between the Red Sox and Yankees this weekend would not have significance.   

4. Cleveland Indians – On August 1st, there appeared little chance that the Cleveland Indians would do anything other have a .500 season.  They had a 55-51 record and were 15½ games back of the Chicago White Sox.  The Tribe then went on a 37-12 run and came within a 1½ games of the Chisox and the American League Central Division crown.  The Tribe has lost five of its last six games and the Chisox held on to win the AL Central, but they still have a chance to win the AL Wildcard — which adds another dimension to the Red Sox-Yankees affair.  Even if the Tribe does not make the postseason they have a core of young superstars in Grady Sizemore, Victor Martinez, Ben Broussard, Coco Crisp, Ronnie Belliard and Travis Hafner who can the tear the cover off the ball.  The starting rotation of C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Kevin Millwood and Jake Westbrook has emerged as one of baseball’s very best.  Perhaps most impressive of all is the comeback of closer Bob Wickman.  He missed the entire 2003 season due to ligament replacement surgery on his pitching elbow.  Wickman returned in 2004 with mixed reviews.  But at 36 years of age, Wickman has saved a career high 45 games in 2005.  Throw Aaron Boone into the mix and Red Sox fans will want blood if there is a playoff game at Fenway on Monday.  It might make the Bosox-Tribe rivalry of the mid to late 1990s look friendly by comparison.

5. Jimmy Rollins, Philadelphia Phillies -  If there is anyone who would want the regular season to continue it would be the Phillies’ shortstop.  As of this writing, he has a 35-game hitting streak.  It is the longest hitting streak in the big leagues since Luis Castillo had a 35-game hitting streak for the Florida Marlins in 2002.  If Rollins gets a base hit tomorrow [Sunday], he could have a 36-game hitting streak.  If the Phillies and Houston Astros should play a one game playoff to settle the National League Wild Card, he could extend it to 37 games.  Should Rollins extend his streak to either 36 or 37 games it would represent the longest hitting streak in the big leagues since Paul Molitor’s 39 game hitting streak for the Milwaukee Brewers in 1987.   

Given all the scandal that is attached to home run records, any run at Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak would be more than welcome.  The same could be said if someone makes a run at .400.  Can Rollins make a run at 56 in 2006?  Rollins certainly has the speed to get infield hits and with 12 homeruns this season can hit for occasional power.  However, for Rollins, it is more important that the Phillies overtake the Astros for the NL Wild Card.

6. Ryan Howard, Philadelphia Phillies -  When Phillies superstar Jim Thome went down because of injuries many a Phillie phanatic thought it would be another disappointing season for the Phillies, who have not appeared in the post-season since 1993.  But should the Phillies overcome the Astros, a great deal of the credit will belong to their rookie first baseman Ryan Howard.  In just over 300 at bats, Howard has hit 22 homeruns and knocked in 62 runs — many of these to either tie or win the game for the Phillies.  He is, in my estimation, a slightly smaller scale version of David Ortiz.

He is also producing at a considerably less expensive rate than Thome, who will be paid in excess of $12 million in 2005.  Can the Phillies keep both Howard and Thome?  Thome has driven in 100 or more runs in a season eight times and has hit 40 or more homeruns in a season five times.  But in 2005, Thome hit only .207 with 7 homeruns and 30 RBI.  Is Thome better off as a DH in the AL?  If the Phillies do advance into the postseason as the NL Wildcard and if they become the fourth consecutive Wildcard team to win the World Series that question will have been answered.

7. Roger Clemens, Houston Astros – The Rocket might have something to say about the Phillies’ wild card aspirations.    Clemens won-loss record is a modest 12-8.  But his ERA is an astonishing 1.89.  What is even more astonishing is that he is doing this at the age of 43.  If not for an anemic Astros offense early this season, Clemens might contend for his 8th Cy Young Award.    Sure Roy Oswalt and Andy Pettitte have more wins that Clemens this year, but the 43-year old has more strikeouts than both of them.  It is hard to believe that nearly 20 years have passed since he struck out 20 Seattle Mariners in a game en route to his first Cy Young Award with the Boston Red Sox.  It is hard to believe that nearly 10 years have passed since he struck out 20 Detroit Tigers in his final start with the Red Sox.  At the end of the 1996 season, Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette said that Clemens was in the twilight of his career.  All Clemens has done in the past decade is win 4 Cy Young Awards for the Toronto Blue Jays, New York Yankees and now the Astros.  He obtained his 300th win and 4000th strikeout in the same game against the St. Louis Cardinals in 2003.  In Saturday’s start against the Chicago Cubs, he struck out his 4500th batter.  Only Nolan Ryan has more strikeouts than Clemens.  Oh, throw in two World Series rings for the Yankees in 1999 and 2000.  Some twilight.   

8. Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres – I must admit that I have many misgivings about the San Diego Padres winning the NL West title.  At least they won’t finish below .500.  As of this writing their record is 81-79.  I wouldn’t have a problem with it except that the Milwaukee Brewers have an 81-79 record and are 17 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL Central.  The Padres also have identical records with the Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals, who are 9 games behind the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.  If not for an accident of geography, how are the Padres any better than the Brewers, Marlins or Nationals?

That reservation aside, I have no complaints about the Padres’ closer Trevor Hoffman.  When Tony Gwynn retired, Hoffman became the face of the San Diego Padres.  He saved 42 games for them this season with that outstanding change up.  Hoffman might not get the attention that Mariano Rivera or Eric Gagne receives but it is Hoffman who is second on the all time list for saves with 435.  Only Lee Smith has more saves with 478 and Hoffman could eclipse him in 2006.  What is remarkable is that Hoffman missed nearly the entire 2003 season due to not one but two shoulder surgeries.   

9. The Chicago White Sox featuring Ozzie Guillen and Scott Podsednik – I had the opportunity to see the Chisox in action in Toronto this past May.  Two things about the Chisox impressed me above all else — manager Ozzie Guillen and outfielder Scott Podsednik.

Of course, I remember Ozzie Guillen during his playing days with the Chisox as well as with the Braves, Orioles and Devil Rays.    Guillen won AL Rookie of the Year for the Chisox in 1985 and tasted post-season glory with the Chisox in 1993 and with the Braves in 1998 and 1999.  He was an intense, hard driving player who took no prisoners.  This same approach has worked wonders for him as a manager.  He is prepared to lay down the law on anyone who thinks they might be bigger than the team (i.e. Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez).    

But what I will forever remember Ozzie Guillen for is that he pitched batting practice to his team.  I have never seen a manager do that before.  Frankly, I am surprised that more managers don’t engage in that practice.  After all, one gets to see how his hitters are swinging the bat and correct any mechanical flaws that might arise.

After the conclusion of batting practice, Guillen picked up baseballs off the field — an assignment normally reserved for the bat boy.    With that act, Guillen demonstrated that no task is beneath him in the pursuit of winning.  Guillen might be baseball’s equivalent of Hannibal fighting on the battlefield with his soldiers.

If one were to look at the Chisox, one might tend to focus one’s attention on Paul Konerko with his 40 homeruns.  I, however, focus my attention on a member of the Chisox who has not swatted a single home run this season.  The most valuable player for the Chisox, if not the American League (save for David Ortiz) is Scott Podsednik.   

The Chisox' acquisition of Podsednik from the Milwaukee Brewers for Carlos Lee was the best trade made in the big leagues this past off season.  Lee has given the Brewers a bona fide power hitter and run producer who might lead the Brew Crew to their first winning season since 1992.   Podsednik, on the other hand, gave the Chisox the spark en route to the best record in the AL.  When Podsednik gets on base, the whole game changes.  Opposing pitchers focus their attention on Podsednik instead of at the hitter — even Konerko.  It is the reason that I picked the Chisox to win the AL pennant at the beginning of this season.  If you don’t believe me, ask my father and several of my readers.

In that Saturday afternoon game against the Blue Jays in May, I saw Podsednik steal four bases.  That sure brought a smile to Chisox first base coach Tim Raines.  With 808 career stolen bases, Raines knows a thing or two about stolen bases.  Indeed, I saw Raines steal a base as a rookie in that very first big league game I saw in Montreal.  In an age where the legitimacy of homeruns has been questioned, it is nice to see the stolen base make something of a renaissance, as it has been largely absent in the big leagues since Vince Coleman was stealing 100 bases a season.

Podsednik has been hampered by injuries in the second half and his absence contributed to the Chisox' late season swoon.    Currently he is tied for the AL lead in stolen bases with Chone Figgins of the Angels with 59 apiece.  Something of a late bloomer, Podsednik was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 3rd Round of the 1994 Draft, but did not reach the majors until 2001 when he debuted with the Seattle Mariners.  Podsednik saw little time with the Mariners in 2001 and 2002 and did not play a full season in the majors in 2003 at the age of 27 with the Brewers.   He stole 43 bases in his rookie season.  In 2004, he lead the NL in stolen bases with 70.  

If the Red Sox enter the post season they will be facing the Chisox.

My advice to the Bosox:   Keep Podsednik off base!!!

10. Comebacks (Ken Griffey, Jr. & Todd Jones) – In 2000, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Todd Jones were at the pinnacles of their careers.

Griffey, Jr. had just completed his first season with the Cincinnati Reds, hitting .271 with 40 homeruns and 118 RBI.  At the age of 30, Junior Griffey had amassed 438 homeruns.  It was Junior Griffey, not Barry Bonds, who was looked at as having a chance to eclipse Hank Aaron’s career homerun record of 755.

But between 2001 and 2004, Griffey, Jr. missed more than 300 games with a slew of hamstring and knee injuries.  He was only able to hit 63 homeruns over that period.

However, in 2005, Junior Griffey enjoyed a renaissance.  After a slow start, he hit .301 with 35 homeruns and 92 RBI.  Griffey, Jr. did cut his season short in mid-September to have more surgery on his knee and hamstring.  His 536 career homeruns tie him with Mickey Mantle for 12th on the all-time list.   

Although the Reds will finish with a losing season for the fifth year in a row, they improved in the second half of this season under new manager Jerry Narron.  Junior Griffey has never played in a World Series and still has something to prove.  In 2005, Junior Griffey proved he could still be amongst the very best in the game.

The same could be said of Florida Marlins relief pitcher Todd Jones.  In 2000, Jones saved 42 games for the Detroit Tigers, tying him for the AL lead in saves with Boston Red Sox closer Derek Lowe.  Jones was acquired by the Minnesota Twins late in the following season in an effort to take them to the AL Central title.   Jones fell flat on his face.  Jones then bounced from the Twins to the Colorado Rockies to the Boston Red Sox to the Cincinnati Reds to the Philadelphia Phillies.  He did not help his cause in 2003 when — with the Rockies — he wrote in a column for The Sporting News that he would not be comfortable if he knew that he had a teammate who was homosexual.  He apologized for the remark not because of its content but rather because he made his views public.

When he joined the Marlins in 2005, it was his 7th major league stop since 2001.  Since his 42 save season in 2000, Jones had saved only 15 games in the next four seasons.  But Jones made the most of his opportunity this season.  The Marlins had touted Guillermo Mota to be their closer this season, but he was ineffective, blowing 4 out of 6 save opportunities.  Ron Villone, Antonio Alfonseca and Jim Mecir were similarly ineffective.  As of this writing, Jones has saved 39 games for the Fish.  At one point, Jones saved 23 consecutive games, a NL record.  Jones has once again placed himself amongst the premier closers in baseball.

I could, of course, go on but I ought to close out now while I’m ahead.  I did not even mention the emergence of Andruw Jones as the main man on the Atlanta Braves with his 51 homeruns.  Or that the Braves have made the post-season for the 14th consecutive year.  Does Bobby Cox not deserve some credit here?  What about Dodgers’ second baseman Jeff Kent driving in 100 runs for the seventh time in the past eight seasons?  Or the Texas Rangers having six of their starting players with 20 or more homeruns this season?  Is Chone Figgins of the Angels the greatest everyday utility player of all time?  As great as Hoffman and Jones have been, let’s not forget Chad Cordero’s 47 saves for the Washington Nationals.  Did you forget that there’s baseball in Washington?  Does the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols have yet another MVP season without winning the NL MVP?  Consider Derrek Lee’s flirtation with the Triple Crown with the Cubs.  To think, that I saw Derrek Lee struggling with the Calgary Cannons of the Pacific Coast League in 1999 when the Florida Marlins sent him down to make room for a first baseman by the name of Kevin Millar.  Cowboy up.   

October has only begun.  The last day of the regular season might produce some dramatics.  As might any one game playoffs on Monday.  Then comes the Division Series, the League Championship Series and, of course, the World Series.  Should the Red Sox not reach the World Series again, much less advance to the post-season, there will still be plenty to watch, plenty to talk and write about.  Once the champagne has gone flat and the parades have gone past, I will think about the memories to come of next year.