Cringe \’krinj\ vb

1. to draw in or contract one’s muscles involuntarily (as from cold or pain)

2. to draw back, bend, crouch, etc., as when afraid; [to] shrink from something dangerous or painful

So what’s cringe-worthy in your life?

Mine? My love of the Atlanta Braves. I love them, follow them, still watch them even though I’m on the west coast. I’ve got such great memories as a kid going to games when the stadium was empty and then later screaming at packed World Series games. But man, oh man, is this a painful, cringe-worthy love affair (especially the past couple of years). Being a Braves fan you develop this sickness in your stomach at some point in the game when you know it could be won, but that they’ll do something to lose it. You know it’s coming and cringe when it happens. The Atlanta Braves are my most cringe-worthy thing.

So what’s yours?

If you’re not a Braves fan this will all be meaningless. A few weeks back the Atlanta Braves traded and got Mark Teixeria as their new first baseman. Some college kids wrote a song about their love for Tex and now it’s a hit on the Atlanta radio stations.

It’s always amazing to see parallels in your life. For me, it seems that my life has been inexplicably connected to Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur’s batting average.

Francoeur has a special place with our family. A rookie last year, he quickly became James’ (my 4 yr old son) favorite player. It’s either because he swung an amazing bat or simply because James likes to say Francoeur because it sounds funny. So as the season started this year, we were all excited to see this young kid continue to surge.

But then it happened, or shall I say nothing happened. Frenchy (as the fans call him) couldn’t hit anything. He was carrying a .80 average for a while and leading the league in strike outs. Simply put, the guy was struggling.

And for some reason, watching this guy try so hard and always come up empty seemed to get to us. It almost seemed like his slump was mirroring our lives. We had been hit with sickness, frustration, and a loss of focus. My family was struggling too.

We’d come back, ready to watch each game. Ready to have hope that Frenchy could do it. We wanted to see him succeed.

But hey look! Over the last two weeks, he’s been surging. He’s up to .231 and the swing seems to be back. Things seem to be getting better for us as well.

Hope fufilled is a wonderful thing. Go Frenchy, go!

a
I love the boys from A-town. I’m a big fan, but apparently, I have nothing to boast.

The “No. 1 Braves Fan,” Pearl Sandow has died. Sandow, enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame’s fan section, attended 1,889 consecutive Braves home games, starting with the team’s first game in Atlanta in 1966.

For more on Pearl

So I guess, I’ll just stick to the title, “No. 1 Braves Fan” in the Pacific Northwest.