In 1992, a 7-year-old boy from Dallas, TX started collecting packs of baseball cards from a Donruss/Coca-Cola cross promotion. Each pack was pulled from a box of Sprite and contained several cards with silver borders and one special edition Nolan Ryan card with a gold border.
Ryan was strong and fearless and looked like he was ready to strikeout God.
Fast forward to October 22, 2010 at just past 10 PM, when that 7-year-old boy, older and with a beard, sat upstairs in his parents’ house with the TV muted and Eric Nadel’s voice coming through the radio…
….6 to 1, the Rangers lead in the top of the 9th. Feliz the high set…here comes the pitch…breaking ball, strike 3 call! THE RANGERS ARE GOING TO THE WORLD SERIES!
…and there was Nolan Ryan, in the front row, laughing and smiling and applauding the greatest moment in Rangers history.
…
My name is Mike Luna and I don’t remember a time before loving baseball (or the Texas Rangers). For a while there was more life than there was baseball, but the love was always there and eventually the game came back. So, my purpose here is to share that love with anyone that cares to listen.
In college, I majored in film, so I am not a journalist. I am not an MLB insider. I don’t talk to players or spend time in the clubhouse. I don’t have sources that say things. I’m not trying to make money or ruffle feathers for the sake of ruffling them. I’m not a stathead (although I may dip into the numbers occasionally to make a point) and I don’t follow the farm system all that much.
At the end of the day, I am just a fan. I watch the games and I listen to commentary. I form opinions about plays and players, but those are ultimately just my opinions. I am passionate and I spend a lot more time thinking about baseball than I probably should.
Now, here we are, sitting out past center field, watching the game from the bleacher seats.
