Fansmanship

It’s summer now and baseball season is really starting to heat up. The 90th Annual All-Star Game is coming up on July 9^th in Cleveland along with the Home Run Derby, and since more home runs are being hit than ever before, it should be quite a spectacle.

As far as our local MLB teams, the Dodgers are in first place, 13 games ahead of their nearest competitor thanks largely to the having one of the best hitters in the game in Cody Bellinger. The Angels, however, who do have the absolute best player in all of baseball in Mike Trout, unfortunately are in fourth place. But the story lines are not always about home runs and winning. I witnessed something happen in a baseball game over the weekend that I have never seen before and will probably never ever see again.

The LA Angels have a young future Hall-of-Famer in Mike Trout. But they also have a veteran player who will undoubtedly be a first ballot Hall-of-Famer in Albert Pujols. But Albert wasn’t always an Angel. The first 11 years of his career were spent with the Saint Louis Cardinals. And what a career. While playing for Saint Louis Cardinals, Albert was voted Rookie of the Year, National League MVP 3 times, an All-Star 9 times, and led the Cardinals to two World Series Championships. The people of Saint Louis were totally in love with Albert, not just because of his baseball skills but also because of all the community service and charity work he constantly did. So you can imagine how the fans felt when Albert left Saint Louis to join the LA Angels in 2012. That can’t have been good.

On Saturday, the LA Angels went to Saint Louis to play the Cardinals. It was the first time Albert Pujols played baseball in Saint Louis since leaving that town 7 years ago. He was probably nervous about playing in front of his former fans, but he shouldn’t have been. When Albert first stepped onto the field to warm up and every time he stepped up to the plate, he received a standing ovation. Thousands of fans brought posters proclaiming their undying love despite the fact that Albert quit their team many years ago. What! Aren’t fans supposed to be fickle about their beloved super stars?

On Saturday, in the seventh inning, Albert Pujols stepped up to the plate in an Angels uniform and blasted his 646^th career home run. Surprisingly, the fans went wild! Remember now, this is an opposing player on an opposing team who just hit a home run. But there they are, fans standing, cheering, waving, and proclaiming their love for a player who deserted them for bigger, better money in the supposedly bigger, better town of LA. Apparently it didn’t matter that Albert left town, he never left their hearts. It was quite the surprising spectacle. Decent people, cheering for a decent guy, just plain happy to see him succeed. Which got me thinking… We don’t just need more fans to be like that, we need more people to be like that!

Sports is a microcosm of human life.  

~ Howard Cosell