I came across this quote working as a counselor at Equinox:
"You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than a year of conversation".
I love that quote because it's absolutely true. If you pay attention, you see how guys play, how they react to adversity and success, if they are gentlemanly, if they're team players, if they're fair, if they respect the game of baseball..........it's ALL there in an hour (or two of play). The reason I mention this quote, for MANY years, I've watched the Cubs play baseball (with or against) and the one thing I've learned about these freakin Cubs (as an outside and an insider) is they know how to win as a team, support each other and deal with what's in front of them like men.
Championships are nice! Everyone's happy. You get a trophy. People congratulate you! There's a post-game celebration with Twizzlers and Oreo cookies, pasta salad, little bottles of Fireball, and shrimp ****tail that fell on the ground (but still eaten because......it's shrimp ****tail)! Winning is fun (maybe even fun if you played for Bill Belichick).
Championships are extra fun when you're in your 60's and you've known guys for decades, played with and/or against these same guys for 20, 30, 40+ years, won and lost other championships with or against them......man, that history all plays into these silly (but not so silly) games we play!
And the other great thing about playing with/against guys for many years, you can go YEARS without seeing someone and easy conversations pick up in the same spot they left off. I met Jerry Rosen in the late 1980's - in 1988 we went to Minnesota and won a national softball championship together. Next time I see Jerry is 2016 in a Cubs uniform. "What's up, brother.........."
We're EXTREMELY fortunate to get to build/maintain these relationships through playing seasons of baseball in this silly (not so silly) old man's league. This league gives us a sociability (which isn't easy to do later in life). Is this league perfect? Nope! Is anything perfect? Nope! For MONTHS, we get to be baseball players and hang out and be social. Beats sitting on the couch watching reruns of Kojak (but I do loves me the episode with Tina Louise)!
So yea, the Cubs won the 2026 55 Division Championship! We had shrimp ****tail that fell on the ground. We had some little bottles of Fireballs and manhandled bags of Doritos..............but more importantly, we had fun and we put more bricks in all those relationships on both sides of the field!
Chris Dunn hit a triple (had to say it or I'd get a text). Inset smiley face here!!!
Gotta love baseball!
-- Edited by slounello on Tuesday 22nd of September 2026 10:43:29 AM
-- Edited by slounello on Tuesday 22nd of September 2026 11:17:12 AM
-- Edited by slounello on Tuesday 22nd of September 2026 12:08:23 PM
