Off season woes.

I was a pretty big baseball fan when I was a kid.  I would read my dad's baseball magazines religiously and was quite happy to go on a family vacation to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.  I had my baseball card collection and my MLB Panini* sticker books.  I used to ride my bike with the boys in my neighbourhood to the convenience store to buy sticker packs and trade.  I remember oh-so-clearly tearing my Mark McGwire sticker out of my book to give to my then-BFF Karl because that was the only sticker he was missing from his "Rookies of 1986".  I always regretted doing that, but then after all of the steroid scandals, I'm glad that sticker is no longer in my possession.

My baseball obsession peaked in 1992/1993 when the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series.  Those were good days, hey?  In 1992, my dad took me to my first baseball game at the Skydome. I even named a cat after Joe Carter, who hit the home run that won the 1993 WS.

As I got older, and the Jays weren't as great, my basbeball obsession diminished.  When I moved to Toronto, I'd go to the occasional game, but more as a social occasion.  It was fun to reminisce about the old days, and remember all of my favourite Jays from the glory days (Fred McGriff, anyone?).  But I didn't follow baseball at all.

Fast forward to the end of 2013.  My friend Mathew had recently rekindled his own love of baseball, and asked me if I want to join him on flex passes.  15 games for $120.  Why not?  Even if I missed games, it was a great deal!  And baseball games are fun, right?

Well, by the end of the 2014 season I was pretty much watching every game that I could on TV.  Even though the Jays weren't in contention that year, my early-90s super-fandom came flooding back.  And then, well, you know what happened in 2015.  It was a (bat) flippin' amazing season!  Playoff baseball games!  Woo-hoo!

And that brings us to now.   The long boring off-season.  Do you know what I'd give to be watching a game right now?  Baseball has the most insanely long season of 162 games but somehow that's not enough for me.  I almost need to start following all of the international leagues or something.

On Tuesday, my pal Mathew and I are doing something that cements us as die hards.  We are going to an event called Pitch Talks, which is a series where we listen to people talk about baseball.  Yes, it's come to this.  The event is advertised for "real baseball fans" and I'm pretty sure I qualify.

Tonight Mathew just messaged me "what are you going to wear to Pitch Talks.  I think I'm going to wear my playoff hoodie."  I started laughing so hard.  This is what the off season has brought us to.  Until then, we've got 29 days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training.

*Wow!  The 80s were great!  I like to remember the days when "Panini" didn't refer to a sandwich, but to those sticker collections that you could spend all of your allowance money on.