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My family is all from North East Mississippi. That is Cardinals Country. At least it was until TBS was in every house. When I was a kid we moved around a lot, but the Cardinals were always around thanks to KMOX. When we lived in Chicago I was 8-10 years old. While there, there was a player from the Cubs that lived pretty close, was also from North East MS, and was looking for someone to help his wife during the day (they had a couple of young boys). One day we get a call at the house from him. He had asked folks back home if anyone knew folks in Chicago and we came up. Anyway, my sister started going over to their house pretty much every day to babysit and jus help out. His neighbor was also a Cubs player. As an added bonus for me, he would come over to our house, pick my sister and me (plus a friend) up and then head back over to his house. My sister would stay and he and his neighbor would bring me and my friend to Wrigley. This was virtually every home game during the summer. I did root for the Cubs when going, but it wasn’t enough to make me a fan.
My dad also played American Legion ball with Don Blasingame when he was a kid. Dad also played some semi pro ball. The old man was just an athlete. Boy do I miss him. Getting a bit dusty in here.