Baseball didn't always return the love. For one thing Michael had a "lazy eye" as a kid. For awhile he even wore a patch over his good eye in order to strengthen the other. {We told him he looked like a pirate. He bought into the concept even though the patch had a picture of a teddy bear on it's cover.} This put him at a disadvantage when batting. For another, Mike was gone most summers which put travelling baseball out of reach for him. That in some ways put him at a disadvantage when the leagues around here began in the spring.
Another problem for him is that Mike is a devoted fan of this team.
Even casual observers of the game know that the past century or so hasn't been good to our guys on the North Side of Chicago. For awhile the Cubs had company with the Red Sox and White Sox. Both have managed to rid themselves of the noxious stench of defeat in recent years.
Not so the Cubs.
Today we begin this classic tale of failure and redemption, loss and happiness, glory and shame in the only way it can be told. From the beginning.
