Moved to Wisconsin in the mid-90s, and it didn’t take long before I was hooked on watching baseball on channel 24 every night. I can’t say I truly became a fan of the Crew until 2003. Even though the team was awful, the broadcasts were quite enjoyable.
Daron Sutton and Bill were great together. The roster had a bunch of exciting guys who were easy to root for. Sheets, Ritchie, Geoff, Scotty Po, young Bill Hall, etc. Anyone else remember the Buckethead Brigade?
Then the Prince, Weeks, JJ, and Braun era came along, and it got to the point where I couldn’t miss a single game if I could help it. I even started recognizing the regular season-ticket holders who’d been around since the stadium was nearly empty most nights. Spotted some of them in the playoffs this year, old and gray now, haha, but it was heartwarming to see those true fans enjoying the run.
When they made the playoffs on the back of CC Sabathia, it felt almost like winning the pennant this year. Pure joy. I was so happy for everyone. I’ll never forget Bill Schroeder shouting like a true fan. It was like exorcising demons.
Still haven’t won the big one, but beating the hottest team in the league, then the evil empire Dodgers felt like climbing Everest. Not just winning, but how they did it was incredibly satisfying. These playoffs are already my all-time favorite sports memories, and I can’t even imagine how good it’ll feel if we win the whole F thing.