I love baseball. Each spring I wait for this. And this spring I really, really love baseball - because my team is winning! That’s what it’s all about - the hope of next season.

All last year watching the Atlanta Braves I was waiting for the season to end (it was awful!) hoping for a fresh start. We’ve had such a fresh start so far. The Braves are 8 and 3 and sitting in first place. I know it’s early, but back off! Let me savor it for as long at it lasts.

Watching games is such a family event around here. Sure we’ll watch other sports, but baseball is a journey that we can’t wait to start each April. We watched the game today and then James and I practiced hitting this afternoon in the yard. Spring comes and so does baseball. It doesn’t get any better than this!

Anyone else excited baseball is back?

[And no, I can't bring myself to become a Seattle Mariners fan. I'm a southern boy at heart and I don't believe in the American League. It's just plain wrong. The DH is a sin! Once you've gone to a World Series game with your team - they're your team for life!]

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.