Baseball Isn't So Bad.... You Can Drink Beer and Eat Peanuts....

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I'm not even going to pretend that I personally enjoy with true, genuine pleasure the game of baseball. However, I do very much enjoy spending time with my husband, and he really loves baseball. He actually really really loves The Cubs. So, most of the baseball watching I do is the Cubs. And let me tell you something, people who LOVE the Cubs TRULY LOVE the Cubs. I think it because they have heart and soul . I mean I don't think they have ever won a World Series (Is this true? Someone fact-check me please). So you just have to LOVE them because someone has to love them, right?

BF loves loves loves loves the Cubs and he loves loves loves talking to me about them, and it's rubbing off on me, a bit. I'm not a rabid fan, but it makes him happy and he lights up and that's cool. Some very dear friends gave us Cubs tickets as a wedding gift. We went on our honeymoon. It rained. I think he cried. He really wanted me to watch a game on Wrigley Field.

I tell you all of this, because something very important happened this weekend. BF's favorite player, Kerry Wood, retired after 12 seasons with the Cubs. He struck out the last batter and then his son ran out and hugged him. It was really sweet and really heartbreaking.

I don't know anything about statistics, RBIs, rules, etc. But here's some stuff that the 34 year old Kerry Wood did:

• He won rookie of the year award in 1998.
• He threw a 20 strikeout one-hitter game against the Houston Astros in 1998 (and I think this was the impetus of BF's man-crush).
• He won a career-high 14 games in 2003 and led the Cubs to the playoffs, where he won the deciding Game 5 in Atlanta in the division series.
•  He started Game 7 of the National League Championship Series at home against the Florida Marlins and hit an early game-tying home run. But the Marlins rallied and advanced to the World Series, where they beat the Yankees.
• He turned down $3-$4 million contracts to play with Yankees and White Socks to play for the Cubs, who paid him only $1.5 million (See? He loves loves loves the Cubs, too!)

Ask BF next time you see him why he likes him so much. He'll tell you.

So goodbye Kerry Wood! Sorry I never got to see you play at Wrigley with my husband because I think that would have made him jump out of his skin with excitement. Have fun with your kids! Stay in Chicago!


And Happy 34th Birthday today to Boyfriend, Wylie Scott Atkinson, aka Wink, aka Uncle Wink, aka The Hairy One (that's what Spanky calls him) aka THE Boyfriend, aka Huzzzbin (that's what I call him). I love love love you more than air and oxygen and french fries and champagne, and I'm glad your mom begged for you!