(Almost) All Comebacks Are Possible (Day 14)

One of the reasons I prefere life insurance over all other products I work with is that it's the only catastrophe where a comeback is impossible.  Once you're dead, you're dead.  Life insurance prevents a personal disaster from also being a financial disaster.




Now that I've talked insurance, let's talk baseball!  Today's finish was one of the best finishes that I didn't see.  I didn't even get to hear Denny Mathews.  Instead I got John Kruk and some other windbag the radio.  The only good thing about it was that they were dead wrong when they declared the KC team dead after the Astros (when the heck did they move to the American League, by the way?) hit back to back homers and took a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the 7th inning.  I saw this on my computer screen while the commentators went on and on about how great the Astros were and how the Royals were done, couldn't come back from this deficit, etc.

I hadn't realized that it was an afternoon game until I got a text from my friend Gary "The Carrot" Davis, with whom I watched most of last year's playoff wins at Buffalo Wild Wings.  The way they had been hitting, I had my doubts about their ability to come back.  I even texted Gary, "I guess I'll be saving $ and time from not watching.  And more running miles".  That text was at 2:55 p.m., as I was getting ready to head out the door to parent teacher conferences. 

But before I left, the Royals quickly loaded the bases and had Lorenzo Cain at the plate with no outs.  I listened on earbuds and got text updates as the Royals scored 5 in the inning to take 1 run lead into the bottom of the 8th.  It wasn't easy, but I turned the radio off while talking to teachers, so I missed the 2 last inning insurance (see, I'm still talking about "insurance") runs supplied by Hosmer's homer. 


Now I just have to figure out how to squeeze a couple of days of insurance work into tomorrow so I can enjoy most of Wednesday night's game 5 clinching win for the Royals!

Kansas City Royals--Friday Favorite (Day 12)

Every day is a good day to be a Royals fan.  Some days, like today, are better than others.


The Royals have been my favorite baseball team for almost as long as they've had a team.  Because of players like Amos Otis (my favorite), Buck Martinez, and Bo Jackson?  Because of their beautiful park?  Because they've won the World Series one more time than the Chicago Cubs have in the time I've been alive?  No.  It's because of two men who most people have never heard of, Royals broadcasters Fred White and Denny Mathews.


Growing up I loved playing baseball and learning as much as I could about it.  Fred and Denny gave me my baseball education on KMA, my local radio station.  I listened to almost every game from the mid-70's to the mid-80's.  I learned what "hitting for the cycle" was when John Mayberry did it August 5, 1977.  They kept me awake way past my bed time relaying Jim Colburn's no-hitter on May 14, 1977, and many other nights, especially those when they were up against the Yankees.  They were too classy to say anything bad against the Yankees, but their descriptions of those losses turned me into a lifelong Yankee hater.


Fred was replaced in 1999 (huge mistake, in my opinion) and passed away in 2013, but I still do get to hear Denny occasionally when I'm within range of a Royals broadcast.  Nobody does it better.  How can a team who makes me feel like a 10 year old again not be a Friday Favorite?