The last few columns have been a little on the serious side ... time for the lighter side.
It’s World Series time ... or as Cardinals pitcher (and Arkansas born and bred) Dizzy Dean used to say, “World Serious” time. I love baseball. I was born and lived in St. Louis until I was almost thirteen ... so naturally I’m a Cardinals fan. If you’re not a baseball fan, read on ... perhaps you’ll get something from this column anyway. 
“There’s always next year.”
We Cardinals fans don’t have to say the above statement nearly as much as Chicago Cubs fans (in fact, they’ve said it every year since 1908) ... but we have to say it this year. The 2006 World Series Champions St. Louis Cardinals played like the 1962 New York Mets, whose record was 40-120 with a .250 winning percentage, the third worst in major league history. (The three worst records? See if you can figure it our before the end of this column. Here’s a hint - think before 1936. One team doesn’t exist anymore, the other two have moved to different cities.) The Cardinals 2007 record of 78-84 with a .481 winning percentage wasn’t quite as bad, but bad enough to keep them out of the playoffs. (Playoffs ... that could be another column: “A Perspective on Life - Thoughts on Changing the Rules to a Accommodate Losers and Greed.” But, I digress.)
“There’s always next year” in baseball ... for the fans. Not always for the players, the managers, or the front office personnel. Players jump to different teams for more money. Managers and front office people get fired. Professional baseball is not a game anymore. Oh, for the days of Dizzy Dean, Stan Musial, and Babe Ruth.
“There’s always next year” in baseball, but not in life. Professional baseball may not be a game anymore, and neither is life. Too many people look at life that way. As Scarlet O’Hara (Southern belle of “Gone with the Wind” fame and Atlanta Braves baseball fan) would often say, “Tomorrow is another day!” But no one is guaranteed “tomorrow.” Rhett left Scarlet. The Cardinals didn’t make it to the World Series this year. Many people will never get that “tomorrow” to do what should have been done today. The Bible warns us: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2). Take care of the important things today. Don’t treat life as a game.
Well, since I turned “world serious” - let me close on a light note. Hang in there, baseball fans. A true fan stays loyal. Just ask England Kroger produce manager and die-hard Cubs fan Bill Newton. I want the Cubs to go to and win the World Series once just for his sake. Next year would be a great time to do it ... 100 years since the Cubs’ last world championship. The Cardinals have won the World Series ten times since then! (I just couldn't’ resist pointing that stat out.)
The answer to the trivia question: the 1935 Boston Braves (.248), the 1916 Philadelphia Athletics (.235), and the 1899 Cleveland Spiders (.130).
2008 is just around the corner. Go, Cardinals! The photo above is one I shot when our son and I were at Game 4 of the 2004 World Series in St. Louis when the Boston Red Sox finally won another World Series. (Hey, Bill, it can happen! Maybe the Cubs can do it someday. And maybe pigs can fly.) More of my baseball photos can be seen by clicking on http://englandfbc.org/message2.php?messageID=403&churchID=405. Here's a bonus photo of Bill and me from 2005 ...
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