It’s opening day of the new baseball season, and I’m trying to decide if I care yet. Before the 1994 strike I followed the Cardinals pretty religiously. I would go up to Candlestick park and brave the biting cold wind whenever they were in town. Candlestick Park, especially for a night game, was a horror. Around the 7th inning you could see the fog roll over the top of the stadium. Day games were better, but not much. If you were in the sun it was pretty nice. If you were caught in the shade, you had better have brought your down jacket. It was pretty amusing (if you weren’t one of the people who were freezing) to see people in shorts enjoying the sun just a couple of seats away from people in heavy coats, blankets wrapped around them, and their teeth chattering. You may think I’m exaggerating, but I’m not. Candlestick Park was a pit.
The strike in 1994 bothered me a lot. Millionaires who play a children’s game fighting with billionaires to try to get paid more millions — I just couldn’t relate. I also had primo seats about 2 rows from the field between home and third for the Cards / Giants game, and the game was cancelled. I was more than a little pissed. Then they cancelled the World Series. When baseball resumed I didn’t go back. If the players didn’t care, and the owners didn’t care, why should I care? The new season came around, and I didn’t go to a Cards / Giants game. I didn’t watch any games on TV. The next season — more of the same. I didn’t go to a game, didn’t watch it on TV. And, I didn’t miss it a bit.
Over the years since the 1994 strike I’ve gone to a few games, but that’s only because I was in St. Louis and one brother or another wanted to go. I haven’t made the trek up to San Francisco to see a game since 1994; not even to see the new ballpark. Last season I tried to watch a few innings during the playoffs, but the passion just wasn’t there. Not like before 1994. Last year I’d watch a couple of innings, then switch over to something else.
So, it’s opening day of the new baseball season. Should I care? I might watch bits and pieces of a couple of games. Pre-1994, if DirecTV had been around and offered their baseball package, I’d have been all over it. Not today. If a game is on ESPN I might watch part of it. It’s more likely I’ll just pop something into the DVD player. I think they may have lost me for good.




