The Days of October

October is my favorite month. October means the cool nights and warm days of Indian Summer. It's the time we in the Midwest pull up the annuals, cut back perennials, mow the grass one more time, and make sure the snowblower is ready. My birthday begins the month.

But, those aren't the reasons for my preferring October over other months. It's baseball. The World Series. I really thought the Tigers had a chance this year. If not them, then my next favorite team is the Cardinals. You see, my mom was from St. Louis and Mom loved baseball. As a girl, she played first base because she was always the tallest on the team. As a teen, she parked cars in their tiny city backyard for games at Sportsman's Park (the predecessor of Busch Stadium). During the match-ups between the Cards and the Tigers, Mom had divided loyalties. She would claim she lived longer in Detroit than in St. Louis so she was for the Tigers, but I think she secretly rooted for her "home" team.

Baseball has been my favorite sport since I was a girl. I remember hot, summer days lying on a blanket in the shade listening to Ernie Harwell do the play-by-play on my little transistor radio. My grandmother (Mom's mom) took me to my first baseball game at the "new" Busch Stadium which has since been torn down and replaced with the new "new" stadium. Gram taught me how to keep score. That came in handy when my kids played Little League and I got drafted into being scorekeeper.

Some people, my husband included, think watching baseball on television is like watching paint dry. So, Saturday night presented somewhat of a dilemma. I'm sure I got "carpal finger" from the remote as I switched back and forth between the World Series and the Michigan State football game which my husband insisted on watching. Sure, we have more than one TV. Due to recent redecorating, not one was connected to cable, forcing me to hope I didn't miss anything while irritating my honey to no end. And wouldn't you know, often commercials were playing on both channels. Thank goodness for replays.

As I watch this year's World Series, I think about my mom and grandmother. Saturday night, they would have been very proud of their Cardinals. After last night's game, I'm still hoping the Cardinals do better than skunk the Rangers  only once.

The days of October are coming to an end and with it the end of baseball. Until next year.