I heard from a number of my baseball friends today, checking in to make sure that I was okay after the double whammy of regular season collapses for both of the teams that I follow closely. The Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves historically failed to make the 2011 Postseason .. in spectacular fashion.  I do not have to recap the gut wrenching play by play on this blog, there is plenty of that to go around, but I will admit that it is therapeutic to have a personal baseball site where I can share my experience.

Without burying the lede, I will come right out and admit that I am doing fine!  Maybe in my younger years it would have taken weeks or months to get over this, but thanks to Baseballisms, Twitter, and an entire social network of baseball fans, I have discovered a finer appreciation of all that is Baseball. The game of Baseball with a capital “B”, supersedes my disappointment at the outcome.  Would I have preferred that my teams were preparing today to make a playoff run? Sure, but the shared social experience of Games 162 of the 2011 regular season was something that I am glad to have been a part of.

It was thrilling. There are only a few times in my baseball watching life that were more enjoyable. It is not the outcome but the experience of epic baseball that rules for me now.  That hasn’t always been the case. Maybe it’s a maturity, maybe it’s recognizing the generational aspect of the game and thinking about passing along this passion to my young girls.  Most of all, I keep coming back to one thing about last night .. it was amazing to sit on my couch, flip MLB Package feeds, check the AtBat App, and share the night with thousands of equally connected fans, all enjoying the moment.

Baseball is social.

I had a social baseball experience with my buddy Adam in 1978, when we watched Bucky Dent pop a home run into the Green Monster netting. We were supposed to be cleaning up the Knights of Columbus banquet hall after school, but we spent the afternoon watching the big screen projection TV in the side room.  We proudly reminisce about being the only 16 year olds hanging with the local “Townies” watching the game.

I had a larger social experience with my family and friends on the fateful night in 1986, when the Mets came back to take Game 6 at Shea.  The stars aligned on that date and we were throwing a long planned 25th Anniversary party for my Mom and Dad that night.  I will never forget my Mom proclaiming, “everyone will remember our Anniversary as the night the Red Sox finally won the World Series!” as the final half inning got under way.  We huddled around a couple of TV’s to watch it all unfold.  In an instant it seemed as if everyone in the house just vanished. Those who dare to mention it still laugh about my brother Kevin walking out the front door and roaming the neighborhood late into the night.

It’s not so much the losses, but the people I shared the experience with that have become the storyline for me.  It’s the old “where were you when .. ?” question.

Maybe I would be more upset today if 2004 had never happened (for sure), and if I had not discovered the great pleasure of being a fan of the National League and specifically the Atlanta Braves.  It was a graduate degree in baseball watching Bobby Cox all those years. I marvel at the quality pitching of this organization, and witnessed the legendary run of success up close and personal.  I believe that the  Braves will continue to be in contention for a long long time.

I guess the point of this is just to say, when they talk about The Great Collapse(s) of 2011 (and you know they will), what I will remember most is that we witnessed all of the drama together.  I’m sure that there were small and large gatherings in many places, but there was something very cool that also happened.  We were in Australia, and Germany, in California and New York and places in between where we all passionately watched one of the most amazing nights in baseball history.

My teams didn’t win .. but it was bigger than that.

Is it possible to get any better than the night of Games 162?  Well … Let’s Play Ball, it’s the Postseason Baby!

#StLCards fans have the great fortune of a long and storied legacy from their home town ball team.  Cardinals fans can revisit teams spanning the entire century for a glimpse at defining moments and legendary players in the history of the game of baseball.

On this episode of Cover the Bases we speak with Alan Ross, the author of Cardinals Glory: For the Love of Dizzy, Ozzie, and the Man, published by Turner Publishing.  His book spans the history of the St. Louis Cardinals up to the 2004 season, using quotes and anecdotes collected from the players, media, fans and management to bring to life this glorious history.

Our conversation immediately starts by trying to define where Albert Pujols fits into the grand scheme of Cardinal greats, and we are both convinced that St. Louis is witnessing a pantheon type player in real time.

Alan brings up the challenges that historians will have defining the players who were playing during the steroids era, and the focus that Mark McGwire brings to the Cardinals franchise because of the controversy.

The Cardinals benefited for decades from the flagship radio station KMOX, a clear 50,000 watt station that could be heard all over the country.  Many fans spent days and nights following the team through these broadcasts without ever getting a chance to see the team in person.  This contributed to the mystique of the ballplayers and help propel the legacy to a much wider audience.

Alan is obviously a lover of the history of the game of baseball and we even reminisce about the old wooden ballparks, built right into the neighborhoods of the cities. They brought the teams closer to the fans, as the facilities became great shrines to the teams that they housed.

The Gashouse Gang of the 1930′s is Alan’s favorite of Cardinals history, and he wished he could get into a time capsule to see the play of Dizzy Dean, Pepper Martin, Ducky Medwich, managed by Frankie Frisch.  This scrappy, “dirty” bunch played a style of baseball that won them the World Series title in 1934 over the Detroit Tigers.

We turn towards the most influential Cardinal of all, Stan “The Man” Musial.  Sometimes, we lose a bit of perspective regarding the players of years past, but the beauty of baseball is that we can look at some key information that will remind us of how great a player had been.  In preparation for this podcast I collected the following incredible facts -  22 seasons, 3 MVP’s, 7 Batting Championships, 3,630 hits .. and three World Series Championships!

The challenge that we have with a podcast of this nature is trying to keep it to a reasonable length, so we have to gloss over some great Cardinals eras such as the 1960′s teams that included Bob Gibson, Tim McCarver and Lou Brock. We touch quickly on the 80′s teams which included John Tudor, Keith Hernandez and we focus briefly on Ozzie Smith and his “joie de vive” as Alan puts it.

Reflecting on the great history of a team like the Cardinals, Alan makes the statement that by understanding the history of a team, it makes one a better fan.  This hits the nail on the head for part of our mission here at Baseballisms.com.  We hope to be able to capture small fragments of fan’s history, to help make a fuller picture of baseball.  We hope to make us all better fans.

This book is part of a series that Alan has put together for many teams including the Red Sox, Yankees, White Sox, Cubs, and many many more.  Click Here to view the entire list of 20 book in the series.

We would like to express our sincere thanks to Alan Ross for coming on the Cover the Bases podcast.  For more information about what Alan is up to these days, his web site is RossMusic.net.

If you like hearing about the baseball books we profile on Cover the Bases, it might be time for you to pick up a Kindle from Amazon, so that you can take all the best Baseball Books with you no matter which stadiums you visit.

Let us know in the comments what you think about the Cover the Bases podcast. We would love to hear from you. Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!

Fan Dave Schaub’s submission to Baseballisms.com reprinted with permission.  Note – Author Cecilia Tan discusses this World Series Game 7 during her appearance on our Cover the Bases podcast. Giants fan’s emotions are expressed in this Peanuts Comic Strip. Thanks Dave!

Trying to think back on that autumn day in October of 1962…I was a transplanted Canadian, having just moved to the U.S.A. in July…but baseball was already in my blood.  Beginning with the 1960 season, I’d followed the game with a quasi-religious passion.  Nothing compared to baseball’s grip on the sporting world then…well, in team sports…in America.  In Canada, we had hockey, and I’d lived my first 11 years in Toronto, still hallowed hockey ground…but I wasn’t good enough to play.  And hockey was just another sport in the U.S., as I was quickly coming to learn.

Now, baseball.  That was different.  Back then, the only reliable game to see on TV was NBC’s “Game Of The Week.”  And in Toronto, where there would surely never be BIG league baseball, we watched and listened to Pee Wee Reese and Dizzy Dean, two delightful old ex-ballplayers, on a station we picked up from Buffalo every Saturday; and almost every week, or so it seemed, they were in Yankee Stadium.  Just like “Hockey Night In Canada” every Saturday night was ALWAYS from Maple Leaf Gardens.  Symmetry.  Predictable.  As I became a Yankee fan, their fabulous history was slowly recounted to me…or else I’d read all about it in the sports magazines.

By ’62, I was already a “grizzled veteran” as a fan of the 1960 pennant race with those pesky Orioles; a heartbreaking World Series loss to those darned Pirates; an incredible Year of the Home Run in ’61 with the M&M Boys; and My First Taste of Glory, in five games, over Cincinnati.  Little did I know that most baseball fans didn’t get to have two seasons in a row that good for their team, sometimes ever.  So all was going well as the Yanks advanced to their 3^rd straight Series.  But this year, it could be tough again.  Willie McCovey.  Willie Mays.  Jim Davenport.  The Alou Brothers.  They won a 3-game playoff with the Dodgers, who I liked better back then (prettier uniforms; I really didn’t know the history).

It was a classic series.  Has there been one other one when the teams won every other game?…Yanks won Games 1, 3, and 5…Giants responded each time, winning Games 2, 4, and 6.  And now, Game 7.  It should go our way, right?  Symmetry.  Predictable.  Yeah…right.  That afternoon, as usual, the game began before school let out.  I hurried over to my friend Paul’s house.  He lived close to the school, and was a baseball fan too, but not a Yankee fan.  Paul didn’t care that much…to him this game was boring…0-0 going into the sixth inning.  I was an 11-year-old wreck.

Finally in the 6^th, the Yankees pushed across a run.  One run.  On a double play.  Kubek was involved, I think he scored the run.  On and on it went.  Getting near dinner time, but I didn’t wanna leave.  I couldn’t.  Not yet.  Years later, I saw a picture of an amazing catch that Tom Tresh made in left field to rob Mays of extra bases.  Why I forgot that, I’ll never know.  Ralph Terry, The Goat of 1960, was still pitching.  And still pitching.  Where’s our bullpen?  Well, Terry still had a shutout.

I remember the weird logic I had back then.  As long as my team was ahead, I didn’t care if they didn’t score anymore.  It was like, “hurry up and make outs – we have to get THEM out.”  So with my goofy 11-year-old logic, there I was, wish fulfilled, facing the bottom of the 9^th of Game #7, and my team leading 1-0.  And Terry is STILL pitching.  My friend Paul went to get a snack or something (turns out he was a Red Sox fan)!

So here I am, sitting alone in Paul Anderson’s rec room, nervous as a cat, watching the bottom of the 9^th.  Too old now to remember all the details – just the critical ones.  Matty Alou got a single at some point, before, during or after two outs were made.  We’re one out from Victory, but Mays and McCovey are coming up.  Mariano Rivera hasn’t even been conceived yet.  And Ralph is STILL PITCHING.  Oh, what a different time.

Mays RIPS a double to the opposite field.  Omigod.  Heart in my throat.  Alou will surely score, game tied, winning run on 2^nd, maybe 3^rd base.  But the Giants HELD ALOU at 3^rd…!!  Why? Look at it from their side…if Alou is tagged out, the Series is over…and they all respected Roger Maris’ arm. So instead, here we are…tying run on 3^rd, Series-winning run on 2^nd, and Willie McCovey coming to bat.

It was like Babe Ruth, Casey At The Bat, King Kong…all wrapped up into one monstrous slugger, one at bat, one swing…and against a pitcher who had pitched the ENTIRE game…the same guy who had given up The Mazeroski HR just two years ago.  Too nervous, too excited, too scared to think.  And I’m almost as alone as Terry.

Terry pitches.  McCovey swings.  It was a FEROCIOUS line drive, fast or faster than the best Maple Leaf slap shot.  In less than the blink of an eye…Bobby Richardson reaches up to snare it out of the air…and the game is over.  For a second or two, I think every heart stopped beating.  I know mine did.

And then there’s celebration.  Omigosh…we WON!  AGAIN!!  Can I breathe now?  I jumped up, surely shouted, and don’t remember even looking for Paul.  Said g’bye and thanks to Mrs. Anderson, and ran?…floated?…hopped/skipped and jumped the two or three blocks to home.  Came in the back door, and I remember shouting something like “Take out some steak, Momma…we’re gonna celebrate tonight!”  And I wasn’t like that.  Certainly not at the tender age of eleven, just down from quiet polite Canada.  My Canadian mom thought me to be more than a bit rude, so I had a lot of apologizing and explaining to do.  But left with a lot of indelible memories, for the next 47 years or so…

Do you have a story like Dave’s? We would love to hear from you! Send a Tweet to @baseballisms with a quick message, send us an email or visit our Upload page with a video message.  We look forward to growing a community of fans interested in the poetry of the game of baseball!