I’m Not so Big on MLB
Anyone who knows me will tell you, I’m no big fan of baseball. I love basketball. I only love basketball. I’m a one sport woman. Of course, I don’t really think of baseball as a sport. It’s more a pass time. Football, hockey, basketball, those are real sports. Sweating and a regularly elevated heartrate are required to qualify as a sport in my humble opinion. Sorry golf and curling, that goes for you too.
I have a long-standing joke with my dad when it comes to my general disdain for baseball. He loves sports in whatever form they come. He’s the reason I got into basketball. I’m constantly teasing him about how slow and boring I find baseball. Often when I’m home visiting during the season, he has to leave to go to work in the middle of a baseball game. When he gets home, he invariably asks who won. My automatic response? “We changed the channel literally the moment you left.” Or something like that. I know he’s going to ask, and he knows what I’m going to say. Every time.
The truth is, I love my dad and I’m not nearly that heartless. I know what it’s like to have to be working or otherwise occupied part way through a game I’m interested in. So I usually do keep an eye on the score and let him know. But you get the idea. Baseball is not my cup of tea.
A New Perspective
During the playoffs this past season, I made a friend, Peter, who loves baseball the way I love basketball. His depth of knowledge allowed me to see the game in a different way. My dad’s a casual fan of every sport. Peter is as serious a fan of baseball. He was able to explain the complexities of the game in a way that my dad never could. The games being played between the pitcher and the batter at every at-bat, during every pitch. I realized that maybe baseball wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it was.
Howie Kendrick’s Grand Slam
During this past MLB playoffs, I happened to turn on the TV which had been left on a sports channel. Game 5 of the wildcard series between the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers was airing. The score was tied at three runs each. It was the bottom of the 10th inning. Howie Kendrick was at-bat. The bases were loaded. The incredible happened. Grand. Slam. Series. Ending. Home. Run.
I may only love one sport, but I grew up a tomboy. Whatever the boys were playing, I was playing. I know enough about the rules of any sport to be able to identify an incredible moment in sports when I see it. That was an incredible moment. And I was PUMPED. I couldn’t believe what I’d just witnessed. It was equivalent to Kawhi Leonard’s ‘The Shot’. It would be the stuff of baseball legend.
I knew it was a historic moment even though at the time, I didn’t know that the Nationals had never won a playoff series since they moved to D.C. and I couldn’t know that they would go on to win it all. My interest was piqued. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m nowhere near being a fan of baseball. I mean, if that ever happens… well, let’s just say I don’t think I’d be able to look myself in the mirror. But, I can see myself being a playoff watcher of baseball.
Enter Gerrit Cole
In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that the rest of this piece has nothing to do with actual baseball. Now, wait, wait, wait. Don’t dip on me. It’ll still be a fun read. Give me a chance, okay?
I ended up picking the Houston Astros to root for absolutely no reason other than I became a fan of Gerrit Cole who was pitching the very first Astros game I watched. (I don’t even remember what game of the series it was or who the Astros were playing.) Clearly he’s excellent at what he does which is a prerequisite for me to be a fan of anyone doing anything, ever. But there was something else. How to put this…? Let’s just say that Gerrit Cole fits into what I like to call, my white-boy type. 6’3″, that close-cut, well-groomed beard, great smile. Yes, please!
I know what you’re thinking. Isn’t it usually men who think this way? No, guys. You don’t have a monopoly on being irrationally attracted to celebrities or athletes or just generally good-looking human beings. The difference between men and women is that a woman is capable of appreciating someone they find attractive without them knowing it ever happened. But trust me, we’re just as appreciative. And Gerrit Cole was very easy on my eyes.
Nooooo! Not the Beard!
Today, after editing an article for a fellow Belly Up Writer, I was made aware of the news that Cole had signed with the Yankees. I had to message Peter. He’s a Yankees fan, I’m a Gerrit Cole fan. Our conversation, in part, went like this: (PS, the punctuation appears exactly as it did in our texts.)
- Me: Sooooo, Gerrit Cole signed in New York, huh?
- Peter: Look who is trying on her baseball jersey!
- Me: Well, now that I’m an editor I’m editing for all sports lol. I edited a piece that included that news today. He’s the reason I rooted for Houston, so I guess I’m going to have to jump ship lol
- Lol. You know they made him shave
If you’re wondering why Peter was so quick to share the information with me, I’ll tell you. It’s because I was fully cognizant of my reasons for rooting for the Astros and had no shame about sharing it with my baseball buddy.
- Me: No! Why?!?
- Peter: Yankee rules. No facial hair.
- Me: Seriously? That’s so boomer of them.
- Peter: No long hair.
- Me: Did he have to cut his hair too? (Written while Peter was writing his previous message) Dammit!!
- Peter: It’s the Yankee way
- Me: I’m going to write an article about this.
And here we are.
Cole and the Felicity Effect
How many of you remember the TV show, Felicity? If you’re not familiar with the story, here’s what happened. In 1998, Keri Russell was a new, fresh face on TV playing a character named Felicity Porter. It was one of those drama/romance shows that sometimes stay popular for a long time and early on, it looked like this might be one of those times. Russell won a Golden Globe for the role in the show’s first season.
And then the unthinkable. Season two of the show debuted and in the second episode, Felicity had cut the long curly locks that were, unbeknownst to anyone, the secret to Felicity’s success. Keri Russell is obviously still a beautiful woman. But the loss of Felicity’s hair was the ruin of the show. Other shows have made references to the disaster and it became a cautionary tale in the TV industry. You don’t drastically mess with a character’s look between seasons.
Too High a Price for Gerrit Cole?
I’m experiencing something of a Yankee Effect having seen Gerrit Cole with his Yankee’ approved look. Pictures of Gerrit Cole, which were once so aesthetically pleasing now… well, aren’t. This is the risk you run when you make decisions based on looks over substance. Let this be a cautionary lesson to us all.
Yes, Gerrit Cole has always dreamt of playing for the New York Yankees. And yes, he’s going to make a crap ton of money on this contract. $324 million over the next nine years to be exact. The deal is the 4th largest in MLB and made Cole the highest-paid pitcher in the history of baseball. But is it possible that the price of admission to be a New York Yankee was simply too high?
I think it just might have been.
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