A Mixed Marriage

I have been avoiding comments on the recent Cards-Cubs series here in Chicago. They played 5 games in 4 days in fall-like weather. Monday was supposed to be a double-header, but the first game was rain delayed for several hours. So, the double-header was on Tuesday. The first game went 15 innings.

I love these series. However, this time my team took only one game. One. Chicago, St. Louis, and Houston are in a love/hate triangle at the top of the Central Divison. Last I saw, all three were within a game and a half of each other.

I am excited that my super husband gets to enjoy baseball in September. But his team cannot win the division. For years, we have made bets on the season series between our teams. The bets were usually cash and the results were often meaningless in the grand baseball scope of things -- neither team has been that great lately.

I've always told David that I would be thrilled for him to see his team in the World Series -- on the sole condition that they did not beat my team to get there. Now we're both fighting for the division title. [Note: As exciting as the division battle is, I am not so naive as to believe that any team coming out of the NL Central will play for very long into the post-season.]

Since the race to the division title is more interesting this year, and since I am not making my own money yet, we changed the bet this year. Our bet is on either of our teams taking the division. I will not go into the particulars of the actual bet -- I will say only that if the Cards or the Cubs win the Central, our friends and family will find out what the bet was.

I have to say that David has been a tremendous sport about his team taking 4 of 5 from mine. There were no victory dances, no giggles, no taunting me when we saw parts of games in public. He did not make fun of Cardinal players (he often makes fun of their names -- Bo Hart is a new favorite). David is usually good about such things -- especially with so much of the season left.

However. I went to the craft store the other day. Dave stayed at home (not surprisingly). He was a sweetheart and agreed to go through some boxes of his stuff. I came home to find he had done that and more. The office/guestroom in our apartment (that I often unconsciously call "my office", that I spend most hours of the day in) had been transformed.

On the wall that one sees upon entering the office are now affixed a large plaque and a framed photograph. The plaque holds a photograph of the 1984 NL Eastern Division Champions -- the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs logo is outshown only by the two Old Style logos. The plaque includes their record (96-65), and the words "The Chicago Cubs Do It With Style." The framed photograph is an 11x14 image (yes, I measured) of a young Ryne Sandburg. Which my own loyal Cardinal fan mother gave to Dave.

I'm wondering if minitures of the the Stan Musial statue are for sale. It would look super on our mantel. Or maybe a plaque bearing a picture of the 1982 World Champions -- the St. Louis Cardinals -- over our bed?