TRY NOT TO SUCK!

My Mom was the biggest Cubs fan I’ve ever known.  Period.  I, for the record, was a White Sox fan.

Was.

I have not followed major league baseball since the strike in 1994 (with the exception of the year my White Sox won the World Series in ’05 — that’s 2005 for you Cub fans).   The strike.  948 games were canceled in all, and MLB became the first major professional sports league to lose an entire postseason due to labor struggles.  NO WORLD SERIES! 

I can hear my Mom still saying,  “GET OVER IT!

But I have to admit, there is something intriguing about this year's World Series.  Sure, there’s the Cubs who haven’t won a World Series since ’08 (that’s 1908) or even been to one since 1945.    And the Indians who haven’t won since 1948. 

What I love about this matchup are the two managers.  They have style.  They exude a real love for the game and see each and every day as privileged to be a part of it.

Take the Cub’s Joe Maddon.  The catchiest of his catchy catch phrases: “TRY NOT TO SUCK!” 

www.korkedbaseball.com

Die-hard Cubs fans Jacob Chandler and Joe Ferro loved the "Maddonisms" so much, they designed t-shirts for their apparel company Korked, which have taken Chicago and the world by firestorm (what, too early?).  A portion of the proceeds goes to charities. So far, they’ve helped raise almost $500,000.

Meanwhile, a few miles east, in Cleveland, Terry Francona has proven to be a hilarious, self-deprecating sort of guy that his team just loves to play for. 

Icon Sportswire/Getty

For example, there is the Tervor Bauer incident during the week of the American League Championship Series.  Bauer — one of Cleveland’s star pitchers — nearly cut off a digit on his throwing hand while doing maintenance on a drone of all things.  Francona shrugged it off with,  “Who hasn't suffered a drone-related injury before? Things happen.”

Yes, my Mom was an honest to goodness Cubs fan till the day she died.  In fact, one of the last things she said to me before she passed away was, “Well, I guess I didn’t live long enough to see the Cubs in the World Series.”  I replied, “Mom, no one might live long enough to see the Cubs in the World Series.”

Fortunately, for Cubs fans -- and baseball fans everywhere -- I was wrong.  Sadly, she was right.  I know that Mom would have loved this match-up.  And maybe, for the first time since 1994, I would  actually “get over it!”

Because I would give anything to be watching this World Series with her.  And we'd both be proudly wearing our “TRY NOT TO SUCK!” t-shirts.