So I've been reading Justin's countdown of the top World Series and Stepbaker's addition to it, and I noticed that they forgot the most influential World Series of our lifetimes. This particular World Series defined me as a sports fan and continues to impact my views on many, many things.
It all began on August 12, 1994. That night, Baseball Tonight showed a clip saying that John Kruk would be missing out on $13,000+ per game he didn't play. I sat with my fingers crossed over the next six weeks hoping against hope that somehow the players and the owners would get together and figure it out. I watched as people debated the future of Cal's consecutive-game streak. As a Rangers fan, I hoped and hoped and hoped that the season would get pulled together in time for the Rangers to win it all. You may remember that as the year the Rangers topped the AL West at ten games under .500. Then, sometime in mid-September, nobody called anybody's bluff, and the season was over.
The strike lasted until April 2, 1995. The 1995 season lost 18 games.
Baseball--you had me at hello, and then you sold me out because $13,000 per game wasn't enough. Within the next couple of years, all my interest in all sports (football, basketball, hockey, soccer) faded as I realized that nobody was any different. Now, I don't watch sports at all, except to check my alma maters' scores. Occasionally, I'll look up an old classmate of mine who plays for the Pirates, but it's not the same.
The World Series of 1994 - The Rangers declared winners by default.
1 comment:
They think the Expos, on track to win 105 games, would have beaten the 52-62 Rangers? Whatever. Let them think what they want, but I believe the Rangers could have pulled off a record-shattering 48-game winning streak, swept through the AL playoffs, and then taken the Expos in 3 (game 4 cancelled to prevent undue humiliation in the land of frozen tundra).
Or at least we can dream.
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