Introductions (1 of 2)

Hello, my name is John, and I'm a baseball-holic. No, seriously. I've been a baseball fan as long as I can remember, and for almost all of my years, I've been a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Nothing has ever stopped that. Not the 1989 season, not the failure of the "Triple Threat Outfield" to play more than a quarter of a season together, not the Pedro-Delino trade, the Piazza for half the Marlins trade or even the sale of the team (twice). Not even my moving 500 miles north into Giant Country. Nothing has shaken me from my enjoyment of the game, and I am an avid believer in the Terrance Mann Creed (from "Field of Dreams"):

The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.
America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers.
It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again.
But baseball has marked the time.
This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray.
It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again.
Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.

From seeing the impact Jackie Robinson had, not only in baseball, but in the desegregation of an entire nation, I've been proud that my favorite team has contributed to the history of this nation. And there's tons of other stories about the deeds of the Dodgers that I won't delve into here.

The early part of this decade was fun because the Dodgers started to turn the tables on the hated San Francisco Giants. From 2004 on, the Dodgers have mostly held the upper hand on the Giants, and as the nation realized Barry Bonds' head growing bigger from more than just his ego, it was fun to prod at Giants fans about it. After all, his numbers kept getting better as he approached what would normally be a geriatric age for a ballplayer. He's smashing 500 ft homers to the opposite field, tearing down records, including those of his own godfather Willie Mays, with utter disregard for following the rules of the game. "Barry's beating up on the good ballplayers who don't use", many thought. And EVERYONE, including the Giants fans, KNEW that NOBODY on their team was a dirty cheat. That was a problem for everyone else.

Well, then one of my longtime favorite players, Manny Ramirez, falls into the Dodgers' lap last season. I've always admired Manny from afar, his Manny-being-Manny antics of disappearing into the Green Monster between innings, taking the field with MP3 Sunglasses and hi-fiving fans in the middle of plays were amusing to me. This guy was entertaining, and he could rake. I thought the community of L.A. would eat that up, and every time there was a trade rumor in the shaky Manny-Boston marraige, I would hope that he'd end up in LA. And every time, I was disappointed, til the last time.

To have one of my favorite ballplayers on my favorite team was beyond mindblowing. The feeling of actually winning a playoff series for this fan who was 7 when the Dodgers won their last playoff series was exhilirating. The numbers continued this year... and then it happened.

Hate to leave everyone hanging, but this is a good place to leave off, as I gotta get ready for work. Will finish the post tonight after work. Thanks for reading.