Baseball/Phillies/Tug McGraw

It is a emotional roller coaster ride being a Philadelphia sports fan!!  What a wild baseball weekend!!!  I haven't been this excited about baseball since the 1980's World Series against Kansas. In 1993 when the Phillies won the division, I had 3 kids, 3 and under and was lucky if I was getting 4 hours of straight sleep on any given night...

Friday night's game was really exciting against the Washington Nationals...the whole time the Mets were in the back of your mind...so many different scenarios could have played out.  We were neck in neck for first place, only because the Mets had slipped into a slump. Why does watching these sporting events have to be stressful instead of joyous and why do I keep going back for more???  It was ladies night and we are now the proud owners of the rally towels they gave out.  90% of the ladies wore Chase Utley jerseys #26.  His chosen song when he steps up to the plate is Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir".

Saturday night was the total opposite, we got our socks blown off and the Mets won...it was depressing and I'm glad I wasn't there.

Yesterday, I tried to get myself in the right frame of mind for the game.  I know, I'm taking this way too serious, but I especially want my kids to experience how exciting it is to be part of a winning team, so its more for them than for me personally. I was lucky to attend 2 of the games in the 80's World Series...that was edge of your seat baseball.  The final game was especially exciting when Tug McGraw (RIP) stepped up onto the mound.  He is and will forever be my sentimental favorite baseball player!  I tried to pull up footage of the game, but I can't seem to get it.  Tug was the most emotional pitcher ever.  He came in as a closer and was in a really stressful situation.  He did this little thing to release his tension...he use to thump on his heart with his hand to show the fans that his heart was beating loud and hard in his chest.  He captured everyones heart with that action, it was rermarkable!!
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/baseballs_best/m … gm6_kcaphi

Before the game yesterday, I spent a couple of hours pulling weeds without music and thinking about the 1980 World Series and Tug McGraw and a calm came over me with Tug's infamous line "Ya Gotta Beleive" which originated when he played for the Mets, but I think became more meaningful in Philly.  I just knew the Phillies were going to win and the Mets were taking over the roller coaster ride yesterday. The game was sold out, we watched it on TV and it was really exciting baseball!!!  (Sorry for any Mets fans among us.)

My mom met Tug several times as a high school teacher in a parochial school that was faced with financial troubles. Tug McGraw lived in the neighborhood and use to volunteer his time and notoriety to raise money. Tug was a very charismatic and a well liked guy in Philadelphia. 

For anyone that's a Tim McGraw fan, Tug was his dad.  Their relationship really didn't bond until Tim was 18 years old.  Tug died of an inoperable, malignant brain tumor at 59 years old in the classic 'New York minute' way...very sad...BUT he would want to be remembered mostly as an optimist...You Gotta Believe ...and as a really funny guy with a big heart and very charismatic ways who enjoyed life.

• Asked what he would do with the salary he was making as a pitcher, McGraw said:
"Ninety percent I'll spend on good times, women and Irish whiskey. The other ten percent I'll probably waste."
• Asked by a reporter whether he preferred real grass or artificial turf, he replied:
"I don't know - I never smoked AstroTurf!"
• His "Frozen Snowball" theory of pitching:
"Ten million years from now, when the sun burns out and the earth is just a frozen snowball hurling through space, nobody's going to care whether or not I got this guy out."
• Asked why he drove a 1954 Buick:
"I like it because it plays old music."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tug_McGraw