You know, at times, when the topic is to my taste, and it usually is, I can’t get enough of Paul Lukas’ uniwatch blog over at Espn’s Page 2. To say I was infatuated by it would be a small understatement. It kind of fits in with my obsession about uniforms of all shapes and sizes. Seriously, if had a bunch of excess money, I’d have bought so many jerseys that I’d probably had lost count by now. Why do I feel like mentioning the great Paul Lukas today? Well why not for a start. He puts a smile on my face everytime I read his blog, so if you haven’t come across it before, please, venture down his path and check out the latest (or old) quirks and fashion errors of the pasttimes that drive insane. Following on from this, I’d also like to give a brief shoutout to my jersey of the day! Seeing as I have an unhealthy affinity for mostly all of em in todays game (with some slight exceptions), I figured one of these gems is worthy of being enshrined for the day! So while you go about your day, just picture this. That’s Zack Greinke of the Kansas City Royals. And boy do I love that jersey. One could propose the argument that the powder blue jerseys that the Royals wear is better. I fail to concur.  
 

And now for something a little different. If you’re keeping score at home you can now add Jeff Kent to the ever growing 5 year line outside Cooperstown. But just make sure you place him behind Mike Mussina and Greg Maddux. No disrespect to Kent, but Maddux is one of the greatest right handers ever, and Mussina’s not that bad either! And if you’ve read this beauty, then you’ll probably have even more respect for the Moose. I certainly do. In fact, living on the black is one great book that congregates so many of those wonderful intricate moments in baseball that are so far beyond just throwing the cow-hide into a mit.

So far this offseason, it’s been a tidalwave of emotion for me personally. Imagine this. You grow up as a kid in England, and until you’re about 12, you don’t even know what baseball is until your cousins take you to a Cape Cod league (which by the way, has to be the best amateur summer league I know of – if you’re ever in Cape Cod, make sure you check it out) Then you get hooked on the game. You learn that you can watch baseball on your television at home on a small terrestrial channel known as Channel 5, even if it is only 2 games a week and you have to get your parents to record it for you on videotape because it’s on at 1am in the morning! But you can’t wait until you get home from school, until you can sit and rewind the tape and watch the show from the beginning. You sit there like a sponge, soaking up the knowledge that Jonny Gould, Dave Lengel, Josh Chetwyn, Todd Macklin and others are blasting your way. Yet your also confused. Your trying to decifer the meaning of so many things at once. ‘What the hell is an unearned run?’ ‘what’s a balk?’ ‘who are the White Elephants?’ But you learn. You get yourself some baseball literature to help you through it. Along the way you discover Sandy Koufax, Babe Ruth, and so many magnificent ballplayers and wonder whether you were in fact hiding under a stone the day David Wells threw the 17th perfect game in baseball history. You chuckle as you observe the humour of Jon Miller and the anecdotes of Joe Morgan every sunday night (or rather Monday morning!). By the time 2004 roles around, you’re a full fledged baseball addict. You’ve long since acquired a team (with a little partisan help from your cousins, who just so happen to pursuade you to follow their team), suffered through what was almost the worst season in baseball history, and have renewed optimism as your team has signed the man they call ‘Pudge‘. You can recount the stats of a certain individual of the Los Angeles Dodgers. You’re in awe as he nonchalently struts in from the left field bullpen, while the whole world around him is rocking out to the distinct sounds of ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and ‘GAME OVER’ flashes from every possible corner of Dodger Stadium. You watch as the opposing dugout trembles like a deer in the headlights. You pump your fist as he blows a 98-mph heater past A-rod. Down go the evil empire. Dodgers win. And Mr Gagne extends his consecutive saves streak. So when you finally get to your first Tigers game in 04, you’re astounded. It’s too much to try to fathom at once. You’ve read all about the stories of the magic of seeing that wide open space in the outfield. The lush green grass. The impecable sound of the crack of the bat. The suspense as the runner takes off from first. Will he make it? Won’t he? You’re afraid to go to the concession stand because you’d miss some of the game. And then you go to wrigley for your third game that summer. You’re even more addicted that ever before. Fast forward to 2008. You’re still watching mlb on Five every week, despite the fact that you’ve had mlb.tv for the past 3 seasons. You still love watching the banter Jonny Gould and Josh Chetwynd conjur up every week that just keeps you coming back for more. Hell, sunday night baseball has become enshrined as a part of you. And You’ve witnessed it all. From the majesty of Magglio Ordonez’s walk off bomb against Huston Street on a cold october night, the Red Sox breaking the curse of the Bambino, the Moose finally getting his 20th win, all the cycles, no hitters, and even a perfect game. You’ve forgone many a good nights sleep to stay up until the wee hours to catch a couple of innings. It’s now late December. Hockey’s in command. But Baseball’s still clinging to your attention like a lifejacket. There’s reminders everywhere. Will Jake Peavy be traded? Where’s Carlston Charles Sabathia gonna land? And so on. So then when you discover, soon after you’re full from Christmas dinner, that Channel 5 are ceasing their coverage of MLB. You do a double take and almost cry. You subsequently spend the rest of that evening looking for any news updates. Any small piece of hope that you can get your hands on. It’s as if a small part of your world has just gone up in flames, never to be rebuilt. However, you’re still stoaked about the game. Your passion couldn’t be higher. You put together a schedule to go to spring training for the fun of it, even though you can’t make it logistically. You’ve already set aside the £70 or so for a full mlb.tv subscription for the upcoming season. You can;’t wait for things to get going again. You acquire several reading digest. All your thoughts are full of summer, and the warmth it brings as you watch snow fall from inside your room. You let yourself drift away like Dr John Dorian, thinking of the good times ahead. And finally, you find a quotation from the great John Miller that just epitomises your love for the game.

“Baseball is there everyday, whenever you would like to enjoy it, whenever you might need it to help escape the toils and strains of real life. While you enjoy todays game it inevitably stirs memories of other days and nights spent with the game”

21 days and counting……..