For most of my major league baseball watching/listening existence, I’ve been a fan of the Detroit Tigers.
Not anymore.
I grew up in LaSalle - just outside of Windsor , Ontario, which borders Detroit Michigan, during the 80’s, which coincides with when the Tigers last won a World Series in 1984. Back then I absolutely LOVED the Detroit Tigers! Almost to an obsessive point, I’d listen to every single game on a portable transistor radio that rather ironically was in the shape of a hockey skate with a stick and a puck.
It resembled this radio shown here - 
(Which, when I came across it on the web, I nearly passed out! Talk about memories!)
Mine had a Chicago Black Hawks sticker - which was odd since I was a loyally devoted Toronto Maple Leafs hockey fan.
I assume my parents bought it at a department store – and what good ol’ Woolco or Sentry had left - is what I got. It was the 70’s after all, and sports merchandise was not nearly as mass produced or attainable as it is now.
The radio, which was about 7” or 8” high came complete with a small white mono earphone.
You’ll recall these crummy sounding little buggers if you are starting to, or have been graying for a spell!
The AM tuner ran on a single 9 volt battery. Jeesh - how many 9 volts I went through back then – now I don’t even use a 9 volt for my smoke alarms that are all wired into my home.
The point here is that, I was a devoted fan of a team that - of course – played in a close by area. Growing up, EVERY KID I knew was a Tigers fan. It’s just the way it was. They were the home team.
Time’s change.
Nowadays, I have access to Satellite television, the internet – including an MLB package that allows me to view ANY game I want to, and if I wanted to, I could drive to pretty much ANY game I want to see within the continental U.S. Mind you, certain road trips could prove costly with our current gas prices.
But, myself, as well as kids who are just discovering a passion for baseball – no longer have to rely on transistor radios with mono earphones to pull in the local home teams games. So, although many still “route route route” for the home team – the team they share the closest geographical proximity with – more and more of us are branching out.
We should also be aware that we needn’t be pigeon-holed into being fans of the local flavor at all, if we don’t want to be. Just because that’s the team Grandpa use to like, doesn’t mean we have to, right? Hmmm…
Now don’t misunderstand me here - I LOVED those days!
I hold many fond memories of Tiger Stadium and being their presumed #1 fan in the world. But nowadays, I have technology – I have options. I have rights. Yes, rights. The right to follow another baseball team – and after 3 decades of Tigers Fever, I’ve decided it’s time I moved on. I don’t share the same feelings with today’s Tiger ball club.
And NO, this is not in lieu of their recent struggles to start the 2008 season.
My interest in the Tigers has actually been spiraling downward for years.
Heck, if you can grow tired of a city you live in, is it not possible to grow tired of a baseball franchise?
So, this brings me to the question I will be trying to figure out in the coming days…
Who do I want to route for now, and for years to come?
Which baseball team do I want to claim to be a fan of?
LET’S GO “_______” needs to be filled in!
And believe me, I’m not planning on becoming a bandwagon fan to this years hottest team.
I simply would like to narrow my main affection to a single team – and simply put, it’s no longer the Detroit Tigers. It’s not to say that I won’t be thrilled for my friends, and the people who live nearby, if the Tigers should win it all again one day.
But for me, nothing is going to replace - or come close to that magical Orwellian year that was 1984!
Yep. The time feels right. I need a NEW team.
AND, I need a team I can really get behind, and route for in a similar fashion as I did years ago while listening through those white mono earphones on my hockey shaped transistor radio. I’m not even certain that’s possible, but it’s worth a shot!
So, let the elimination process begin!
I’ll break down the 30 major league teams tomorrow, narrowing my choices down to 10, then 5, then 3, 2, then ultimately, I’ll choose who I am going to become a serious fan of, and will begin posting a Blog about my new favorite team right here at WaiverSharks.com.
Any predictions?
How about the New York Yankees?
Not in this lifetime!
So that leaves 28 teams to decide on, since we’ve already determined I’m moving on from my Detroit Tigers era.
Bless you Boys, we had many wonderful years!
