A boys of summer bummer I get home from work last night, and Dy tells me some friends from church have tickets to Thursday's Cardinals-Astros game at Busch Stadium, and they're wanting to know if I'd like to go. This is for Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, friends. A chance to see my beloved Redbirds up against their Central Division foes, those upstarts from Houston. Unfortunately, Dy wouldn't be able to attend, because they only have one extra ticket, as they're taking their daughter. Hmmmm, methinks, I smell a test... It turns out I can't go anyway because this is Homecoming Week on our campus and I have two days' worth of meetings beginning tomorrow. Ah, cruel fate. I guess I'll watch the game on TV like everyone else.
P.S. - I'm rooting for a Cards-Yankees series, which would appropriately celebrate the 40th anniversary of one of the greatest World Series battle ever: a mythic battle between the young NL upstarts, an integrated, modern baseball team (Bob Gibson, Curt Flood, Bill White and the young Lou Brock, stolen from the Cubs) against the storied, mostly white Yankees (Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Mel Stottlemeyer, Elston Howard [the only black on that team]). That series was played out against the backdrop of the civil rights movement, and served as a microcosmic drama and story line for the entire nation. If you're interested in baseball history, I highly recommend David Halberstam's book about these two teams and their dream seasons, October 1964. Any true baseball fan will love it.