The Long Goodbye
Looking back, I knew the relationship was headed south when Justin Morneau hit his 30th. It was an important one--lifting them to a victory over division leading Detroit. Micah was taking his bath at the time, and I had the radio on to pass the time and keep track of the game. When Jon Gordon gave his signature, "Touch 'Em All" home run call, I let out an involuntary scream of joy. It had been almost 20 years since a Minnesota Twin had reached this mark, and this was a pivotal moment in a long season. Most significantly, it was the first moment I felt that visceral, almost familial link to the Minnesota Twins. There had been moments of courtship, yes, but this was the first kiss, a magical moment.
There's a Raymond Chandler novel called The Long Goodbye. That's an apt metaphor for what's happened to my baseball loyalties this season. The Cubs are, and probably always will be, my first love. I lived through the '89, '98, and '03 playoff years with ecstacy and despair. But the bloom has fallen off the rose. My beloved Cubbies are vying for the worst records in baseball--with a $100 million dollar budget. Ever since that fateful 8th inning (see Bartman, Steve and Choke, Cubs), it's been a slow steady decline. A late season collapse in '04. Below .500 in '05. And this year, not one of the imagined starting rotation back in March remains there. Management has no clue how to develop players, and aside from Derrek Lee and perhaps Aramis Ramirez, there seems little left to build around.
And so, as May moved to July, I felt my loyalties shifting. The Cubs became the long distance romance that fades away. We're moving on to find other interests, other loves. The Twins (with a payroll half that of the northsiders) might have the best record in baseball when all is said and done. As the song goes, "Love the one you're with." Instead of a fuzzy WGN signal at night, I flip to WCCO here in the Cities to hear another dominating Santana performance.
Not all farewells are final, but in this case, I think it's good that the Cubs and I have some time apart. Maybe see some other people. Who knows? Maybe we'll come back to one another for a second honeymoon, a more mature romance. But for now, I'll just drink Chandler's proverbial gimlet in memories of good times past. I've got a new girl waiting.