A Futile Love?

By Rachel Frick Cardell

When I was in second grade, my parents decided to get rid of our television. Since at the time television was the only source for watching sports, I grew up never really watching them or developing a love for a particular team. So, on our wedding day, in the throes of young love, I vowed to root for my husband’s sports teams. Unbeknownst to me, loving my husband’s teams would prove to be futile over the decades. Every spring he gives his heart to his beloved Baltimore Orioles and every fall he dusts off the bruised, battered remains of his heart and hands it over to the Miami Dolphins.

For those who do not follow baseball or American football, let me assure you of the futility of this love. Since the last time the Orioles won the World Series in 1983 (39 years ago, and five years before I met my husband) they have made the playoffs just five times, and lost in the second round four times and the first round the fifth time. So over four decades we have won four post season games in baseball. Period. In 2021, one headline read, “The Orioles Have Been Legendarily, Historically Awful.”