The Cubbies are Playing

Watching sports is a very recent addition to my life. It started with high school football games which I watched because I simply had nothing better to do; I was in the pep band, and we played at games, and there was nothing I could do about it: so I watched football games.
Then, much to the chagrin of my mother, I started to enjoy watching football games. Then during the 2005 NBA finals, I learned to like basketball. Then before I knew it, I even liked the occasional hockey game.
Now I'm beginning to find the joy in our nation's pastime--Baseball.
Esquire, to celebrate it's 75th year in publication, has opted to run a series of gimmicky articles, and features, and what have you all dealing with the number 75 (certainly the Count from Sesame Street has a hand in this). One of the features in their May issue is a list of 75 Skills Every Man Should Master. "No.4: Score a Baseball Game," the list says, and it describes the act as an exercise in observation.

I will consider this a score card for my life, and I'll be keeping track starting 61 years and one day after Jackie Robinson broke the major league color barrier.

The Cubs happen to be beating the Reds 10-1 at home in the bottom of the fifth right now.