My wife and I got very different things out of The Tenth Inning

I was watching the second part of The Tenth Inning last night with my wife.

I found it to be a wonderfully produced retrospective of the exciting, controversial and tumultuous past 15 years of baseball. I was moved by the heroics of Ripken, Big Unit, the post September 11th World Series and Maddux.

I was challenged by the steroid era and its legacy and got goose bumps reliving the roller coaster that was the 2003 and 2004 Red Sox and Yankee showdowns.

My wife?

She found out that Ichiro is hot.

When they cut to Ichiro talking about baseball, suddenly she was paying attention.

“Who is THAT?”

“That’s Ichiro Suzuki.”

“Damn… he is CUTE.”

“Yes he is.”

“What’s he doing now?”

“He’s still the right fielder for the Seattle Mariners.”

“Is he married?”

“I am not sure. But I think YOU are.”

So keeping score… I’m a Red Sox fan… my son Aidan has adopted the Giants… my son Matty has adopted the Dodgers… and if my wife’s attention was any indication, she might soon become a Mariners fan.

Here’s a clip from the show. This one is FOR THE LADIES!

THIS is why part of me will always support the White Sox

I watch The Tenth Inning last night, and no surprise at all, it was terrific.

But I can’t help but think of how a White Sox fan would be annoyed by it. They spend a huge chunk of the episode chronicling the Red Sox, their fans and their agony and the jubilation of 2004.

They break down the underrated agony of the San Francisco Giants and the crushing 2002 World Series defeat.

They review the Cubs, their fans and the near miss of 2003.

But the White Sox?

They got one clip during the World Series montage at the end… but THEY ended a drought that was longer than the Red Sox drought.

Their World Series redeemed a franchise from the 1919 gambling scandal.

And I am sure there were plenty of White Sox fans who had their parents and grandparents die without seeing their team win… and I am equally sure it was a moment of a lifetime that they didn’t dare dream that they would see.

Nothing.

They spent more on Joe Torre’s decision to leave David Cone in Game 3 of the 1996 World Series than they did on the White Sox World Championship.

They’ll never get respected, will they?

If they didn’t get attention after breaking an 88 year curse, then they will NEVER get it.

Well, they get it from Sully Baseball.