Dodgers Cardinals 8-18-09

My entire life I have listened to or watched baseball. My Dad loved the game and like many kids who grew up in the depression, it was his escape from the dull life of poverty. He and his brothers played "ball" almost everyday and listened to the games on radio.

As a kid in the 50s I can remember living in Alaska, Dad was in the Air Force and we lived in Anchorage. We listened to the "ball games". Either, the Dodgers or the Cardinals were the favorites. Both had been Managed by Branch Rickey, the Best Manager to ever lead a team. Branch Rickey led the Cardinals from 1919 to 1942. He was the Manager as my Dad grew up listening to the Cardinals. In 1943, Rickey moved to Manage the Dodgers.

Tonight, Jack, Pam and I are going to the Dodger Game. They are playing the Cardinals in Los Angeles. Vin Sculley said last night that these two teams have played each other over 1,800 times in the last 100 years. In all that time, they are about even with both winning about 900 games. Branch Rickey must be smiling.

The Dodgers are Managed by Joe Torre. He grew up in Brooklyn, the home of the Dodgers. He is one of the only players to have played for three teams and then Managed those teams. He was a Cardinal player in the 1960s and he Managed the Cardinals in the 1990s. The Cardinals are Managed by Tony Larussa. He, like Branch Rickey, is a lawyer who said, "I would rather ride the minor league bus than to ever step into a court room." Tony Larussa speaks fluent Spanish.

It should be a good game. Dad and Branch Rickey will be watching with Jack, Pam and me.