Oh, well. A couple of things did catch my eye there, one of which has depressed/irritated me and the other of which I hesitate to even mention.
So...hesitation aside, I saw a new picture of Stephen King this morning and I swear the man is starting to resemble some of the spooky characters out of his books and movies. (No offense intended, as I have read most of King's books and particularly admire his novellas. Too, I think he is the kind of man who would probably see the humor in my observation.) Take a look:
I love baseball and have loved it since I was about 10 years old. I grew up following the Game of the Week on CBS Television when Dizzy Dean and Pee Wee Reese were calling the games. Consequently, I became a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees, the Cards because that was Dizzy's old team and the Yanks because they were on TV more than any other team.
Then when Houston got its own team in 1962 the Astros became my favorite team but I still had a soft spot in my heart for the Cardinals and Yankees. So when the Astros moved to the American League a couple of years ago, I was able to start rooting wholeheartedly for two teams, the National League Cardinals and the AL Astros.
And NOW? Well, if the current investigation of the Cardinals for hacking into the Astros database proves true, I am done with the Cardinals...forever (see this New York Times article)
According to the Times article, one or more people in the Cardinal front office were hellbent on getting a little revenge on the Astros for hiring the Cardinal assistant GM and making him Houston's General Manager. And not only were they trying to get confidential information that would help them grab players before Houston could get them (the two teams were division rivals for a long time), these crooks were also leaking information about trade talk that Houston was having with other teams...all in the hopes of stopping those trades from ever happening by embarrassing the Astros.
Well, all I can say, St. Louis Cardinals, is that if this turns out to be true, you have forever lost a fan who has followed and loved you for the last 56 years. The garbage man will be getting a whole pile of Cardinal fan gear to bury at the local landfill, that's for sure. Yeah, you could say that I hold grudges and seldom give second chances to backstabbers. Stan Musial is cursing you guys from his grave right now, guys. Shame on the lot of you.
Rant over.
I was born a Cardinals fan, though because my grandfather gave up on St. Louis and switched to Houston (then the Colt .45s) the last two years of his life, I have a soft spot for the Astros, too. I felt like Bud Selig screwed the Astros in making them switch to the American League, but like you, I saw the switch as a chance to pull for Houston in the other league.
ReplyDeleteThe news that the FBI is investigating the Cardinals for either hacking or using old passwords to break into the Astros computers was disappointing to me, too. However, I will wait to see what happens before I make any rash statements. I am hoping that it was the stupid behavior of an idiot in the IT department who was disappointed that he didn't get asked to go with Luhnow to Houston. The reason that I have hopes that the improper actions were one undertaken by an immature person not in a position of authority with St. Louis is that I would like to think that, had it been an actual attempt at corporate espionage, the Cardinals would have been smart enough not to be "bragging" about what they had done by posting information from Astros computers about trade talks Houston had with other teams. ... I will not be "leaving" the Cardinals, whatever happens, though I will be upset with management if it had knowledge of the break-ins into the Houston system. ... I urge you to approach the situation the same way.
Mike, thanks for your thoughts regarding the Cardinals. I think their actions bother me (and I've read that the computer spying took place in three different years, so it's not a one-time hacking incident) is that I was such a fan of theirs despite having a hometown team in the same division for most of my life. I always felt that I had two shots at winning the division, and although I always rooted for Houston to win it and even if we didn't, it was OK as long as St. Louis was the winner.
ReplyDeleteThe Cardinals were the organization I always hoped Houston would be. And now I am so disappointed that they, of all teams, did this that I just don't think I will ever see them the same again - and this is a team I've followed and loved since before there was a MLB team in Houston.
I will never say "never" when it comes to changing my mind about anything, but this might just be one of those times. I suppose it all depends on how the Cardinals officially handle this when the time comes to own up to it and pay the piper.
Good to hear from you. Thanks.