The Time I Fell in Love with Andrew All Over Again
For those of you who are involved with someone who is an avid sports fan, you know that it is part of the package. Poor Andrew married into the Cubs. He wasn't a Cubs fan before we met or a baseball fan in general. We began dating during the infamous 2003 season, so for awhile all Andrew knew of the Cubs was a winning season and postseason dominance. Then, 5 outs from getting into the World Series, Steve Bartman entered into the common lexicon and Andrew learned what a fickle mistress the Cubs really are. But the seed had been planted and over the years Andrew has patiently endured my Cubs addiction and in the process entered into the fold as well.Not being a baseball fan for the first 30 years of his life, the learning curve was somewhat steep. Baseball is, at its core, a very simple game, but there are still numerous rules and jargon to absorb. Over time Andrew became familiar with these and could talk about the strengths and weaknesses of various players. He drank the Kool-Aid, and it warmed my heart.
A couple years back, as Andrew was still familiarizing himself with the baseball landscape, we were watching a Cubs game at home. The game was a hard-fought one, with each team continually piggybacking over the other one for the lead. At a critical juncture, Derrek Lee came to the plate. He smacked a line drive to the far reaches of the outfield and was able to make it to 3rd base just under the tag. Andrew turned to me and with unrestrained joy cheered: "Lee just made an inside-the-park triple!"
I swear, if we weren't already married, I would have proposed to him right there.
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One of the Cubs hit a weak bouncer straight to the second baseman, who then turned a double play to first and the batter was tagged out. However, the runner on second made it safely to third, and I said something like, "It's ok honey, just think of it as a SACRIFICE double play."
He definitely did NOT propose to me that day.