Traded!

I'm writing this shocked, disappointed, frustrated, and unhappy. For some reason the Kalamazoo Kings traded my guy, Chad Rothford, today. I could go into he's one of best prospects on the team, talk about his stats, and all the important things relating to baseball as to why you'd want him on the team, but I honestly don't care about those things. It comes down to the simple fact that it was cool calling him a friend.

I love my Wolverines, but I don't have any bond with any of the players that play for the Wolverines, yet I cheer for them. The Kings are slightly different, I do enjoy cheering for them, but I don't feel the love of the team like I do with the Wolverines. Different, but knowing somebody on the team makes all the difference in the world. The season is only 30 games in, yet with this one play, I formed a bond with Chad. That bond, changed from just casually rooting for the Kings, to becoming a super fan.

The game before I got the news, Becca's mom and Randy came out to check out a game Friday night. Just before the game started, Chad walking to the dugout, looks up and sees me in the crowd. I do my Babe Ruth impression of pointing to the fence and swinging and hitting an imaginary homer, then pointing at him. He smiles and laughs, meanwhile Becca's mom and Randy can't believe I'm doing what I'm doing. Seems kind of minor, but it's nice knowing that there wasn't another person in the stands that would get a reaction like that. That's what makes this bond special.

Come Saturday night, Becca and I got to the game a few minutes late. Chad wasn't playing, but figured the coaches were just resting him. About half way into the game, I spotted Chad in street clothes walking in front of the stands, he waved and then headed up to where we were seated and proceeded to tell us the news of his trade. Again, how many players would take the time to come visit a fan in the stands?

Chad is now a Gateway Grizzly. It sucks that I can't watch him on a consistent basis, but I'll follow his stats and maybe even use him being on a different team to schedule a road trip. It was a very short relationship, yet one swing of the bat was all it took, and I'm a Chad super fan. I'm not sure what the King's management was thinking, they really should have consulted me first.

FYI, I've already marked the calendar when the Gateway Grizzly's come into town. I like the Kings, but for that series, I'm going to be behind the visitor's dugout rooting for my guy, Chad.