And That’s a Winner!

A World Series Winner!

Dear boys of mine, kinda minus Jack Henry, because you’re too young to remember this,

Last night, watching the Cardinals win the World Series in Game 7 with you was one of the absolute highlights of being your mom. You two can honestly say that you’ve devoted more hours of your life to watching and knowing about the Cardinals (and Major League Baseball in general) than many grown men can.

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So this, my boys, was the ultimate payoff for your super-fandom.

As I mentioned before, yes, it’s just a game. And many times, people do take it way too seriously. But there are also lessons to be learned, and primarily, it’s this: don’t listen to the naysayers. There are ALWAYS going to be people out there who tell you you can’t. You have to learn how to tune them out and just do what you know how to do.

For instance, last night? All of the announcers were saying that this was the Rangers’ year, and the Rangers’ game to lose, and Mike Napoli’s MVP (Napoli was AWESOME in the WS. Truly.). But the Cardinals didn’t care about any of that…they went out and played the best game of baseball they could. And they won.

Watch Tony LaRussa’s reaction:

But you won’t always win, obviously. The Rangers were a great team, and if they’d been playing anyone but the Cardinals, I’d have been rooting for them to win. They can hold their heads high because they played with class and a lot of heart.

And locally, there’s no better story than hometowner David Freese. It’s well-documented that he grew up playing baseball not far from our house – in fact, at a field that Luke’s played at and Bennett will soon – and played until he got burnt out and thought a career in baseball wasn’t for him. Thankfully, after sitting out a while, coming back, and persisting through injuries, he had a nearly-unbelievable playoff series, hitting the game-winning homer in Game 6 in the bottom of the 11th after dropping a routine fly ball earlier in the game. I’m sure many kids are spending today dreaming of just what Freese did years ago, and hoping to follow in his footsteps (though, without the DWI would be commendable).

I hope this whole exhausting experience has been memorable and fun for you, because it certainly has been for your dad and me. And as cliche as it sounds, I hope that there’s some little piece of this that you’ll take with you, knowing that giving whatever you’re doing your all is always the right decision.

Love,
Mom