Triumph of the soul

So like can you believe any of this? It's been hours since the final pitch and the phone rings with giddy friends who want to go over and over and over what happened. And you have friends who already know they're going to be useless at work for the next few days (or weeks) and your son is already seeing how his free periods at school match up with the game times. And even the happy-talk idiots on TV don't bother you even though it's clear that, for some of them, their knowledge of baseball wouldn't fill the tiny space left by the oh-so-tight collar of a choking and red-faced Detroit Tiger. And you can watch Joe Mauer over and over and over, saying the same thing on 137 different versions of the TV news and sports shows and then you want to see it for the 138th time. And you wonder about people who don't like baseball and how out-of-it they're gonna feel when they want to talk politics or poopy diapers or other shit. And now I've heard Michael Cuddyer say "unbelievable" for the 139th time, I think. And you're feeling happy for Carlos Silva, who pitched long enough and strong enough to redeem himself for all the troubles he caused with fat pitches, tired legs and his upset tummy. And, like Torii Hunter said, "I'm a Royals fan now." And you're thinking about when the Royals come to town next season and the standing ovation they're going to get because we're gonna pull that Minnesota Nice thing on 'em, cheer them for how they beat Detroit and then kick their a$$e$. And another triumph of the day was that you didn't know what the Vikings did until you got home, maybe 2 hours after the final pitch, and then you only saw it because you logged onto the computer because you wanted to read about what you just saw. And you'll never forget some of the little things that happened today, like sitting behind the very old woman with her homemade scorecard and the guy is the Paul Konerko jersey carrying out the sleeping toddler in the bottom of the 9th and that your friend's Mom and Dad were in the Hormel Row of Fame in the best game that ever was (regular-season edition). And then there are the big things: a division title, a batting title, an MVP, a Cy Young Award winner and maybe a Manager of the Year award and quite possibly a World Series in town -- all from the team that drove you crazy for the first two months of the season and made you absolutely crazy for them the rest of the way. So like can you believe any of this? You can? Well, good!

(Note: Much good stuff on the web today, but make sure you check out Pat Neshek's account of Sunday afternoon.)