There was a time when baseball was among my favorite sports.
Up until about 1987, I could recite the batting order for every Major League Baseball team, including the obscure and also ran teams
Now, some two decades later, I only have a passing handle on the lineups and stars of Major League Baseball.
A major factor in my personal decline in interest was exemplified by the trade last week between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Kansas City Royals.
The centre-piece of the deal was former Cy Young Award winner Zack Greinke who was dealt by the Royals for a package of players, most of whom are beyond my range of knowledge and interest.
Greinke, I knew of.
A young pitcher with seemingly a golden arm, he represented hope for the Royals who have been a non factor in the American League since they beat the Blue Jays for the American League Championship and went on to win the 1985 World Series
Greinke requested or demanded the trade, take your pick, essentially because he surveyed the Royals player situation, deemed it to bereft of talent now and in the future and thus wanted out.
I guess I’m aging, because I don’t remember too many players making such a stipulation when I was a baseball fan.
I’m Fred Wallace