Still Keeping Score

So one of the coolest moments in my existence was also the most awkward. I met one of my childhood sports heroes.  And I met him in the underwear sales section of a department store. Wait. We’re going to need some context. And maybe a robe or something. First, the who. The best pitcher in the history of baseball is Jim Palmer.  He had 268 career wins, a lifetime ERA 0f 2.86, first ballot Hall-of-Famer with 92.6 percent of the vote, 6-time American League All-Star, four Gold Gloves, eight 20-game winning seasons,  THREE time CY Young Award winner (finished second in the voting twice and third once as well), and THREE times a World Champion with the Baltimore Orioles. The other who in this is me, of course. Born in Maryland wearing an Orioles T-Shirt.  It is a medical miracle to jump out of the womb wearing clothes.  Superman had that famous red blanket he turned into his cape.  My superpower was fandom.  A gift of Orioles fandom handed d...

There was a day when it was extremely cool to be a fan of the Baltimore Orioles.  I remember, because I was one of them.  We were legion.  The O's always won, they had the best pitching in all of baseball and a defense that was a perennial spectacle of efficiency.  They were so good, so often with a system in place called "The Oriole Way."  Teams at every level all over the country attempted to emulate the pitching, defense and yes, the occasional three-run homer style of baseball played in Baltimore. This quick historical review is how I have to explain things to my kids, who thought I was only joking when I talked about the O's as a powerhouse in Major League Baseball. They spoiled me rotten, those three time World Champions did. They won the Fall Classic in 1966, 1970 and 1983, to go along with six American League Pennants and eight division titles.  They battled among the AL elite, and frequently dispatched the mighty New York Yankees with ease, and ...