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I’ve been so busy being a husband and father, and getting the final details on my book worked out, I didn’t even know that the Detroit Tigers traded Mike Maroth to the St. Louis Cardinals three weeks ago. I was driving back and forth from the hospital on Saturday listening to sports radio when some baseball announced that Maroth was getting pounded against the Phillies and my first thought was: What are the Tigers doing playing the Phillies? I thought they were taking on the Mariners this weekend.
The only reason I mention it because I saw Maroth pitch in his second major league game and earn his first victory against the then defending World Champion Arizona Diamondbacks five years ago. (What it really five years ago?) It happened to be the first Detroit Tiger game I ever attended and one of my fondest sports memories. Marathon Girl and I also saw him pitch and earn a win against the Rockies the following summer.
Because he seemed to win every time I watched him play in person, I offered to attend every game he started in return for airfare, tickets to the game, and other expenses. Sadly, he never took me up on it. He really could have used my presence in the stands Saturday.
I hope he enjoys playing for the lowly Cardinals. That has to be a big step down going from a winning team to a losing one -- espically when he was with the Tigers when they were the lowliest team in the majors.