Spring Is Now Officially Here

Ah, baseball. How do I love thee? I'd count the ways, but nobody wants to read about my man-crush on the game of baseball. And since yesterday was officially the start of the stateside Major League Baseball season, I figured I'd throw a little love its way.

As my profile states, I currently reside in San Diego, California. I enjoy the home team here and consider them my favorite National League team. But while I like the San Diego Padres, they can never replace my first true love: The Cleveland Indians.

See, I grew up in Cleveland. Born and raised. And I've seen some God-awful Indians teams in my life. From the days of Brett Butler, Cory Snyder, Andy Allanson, Mel Hall and our perennial DH, Pat Tabler, the 80's were not good to us. In fact, the early 90's were pretty crappy as well. But something happened in the late 80's that began a surge of Tribe pride and changed the tide of the organization and caused fans to start going to the ballpark to support their lovable losers.

No, I'm not talking about the team's attempts to get a new ballpark. That was going to happen anyways. There was a different, albeit just as important, catalyst that created a vested interest in the team within my hometown:

That's right. Major League came out in 1989 and showed a fictional Cleveland Indians team overcoming the odds to become a powerhouse in the postseason. With a bunch of scrubs on the team and an owner eager to move to a more financially beneficial location in Florida (ha!), the movie showed the team beating the vaunted New York Yankees to make the playoffs (only to be swept in the ALCS by the ChiSox, the eventual World Series winners, as noted in Major League 2).

I truly think this movie created a love for the hometown Indians. Not long after its release, the Indians opened their new home at Jacob's Field (now known as Progressive Field) and the Tribe began their resurgence. From home attendance records to making it to (and losing) the World Series in '95 and '97, the horrible teams I watched as a youngster in the cavernous Municipal Stadium were but a distant memory. All thanks, at least in some small part, to a movie about a bunch of sad sacks and a surly manager.

Last year, my favorite team was one game shy of making it to their first World Series in 10 years. This year, several baseball "experts" and a bunch of talking bobble heads on ESPN are picking this team to take home their first World Series Pennant in 60 years. That does not bode well for them.

But either way, here's to the start of the new season and the joy and heartache that comes with it.