How important baseball is in our family

Last night we were telling stories about each of us that were quite funny. The one that had everyone rolling was from when I was little...so sit back and be prepared to get a chuckle.

Back in 1970s, I was an only child living in Beaver Falls, PA. My dad as most of you know is a HUGE baseball fan especially the Reds. We used to go on top of the hill to a Dairy Queen parking lot to be able to listen to the games in the summer. My dad taught me all the players positions, batting orders, batting averages. I was a wealth of Cincinnati Reds information. As most of you also know my father really enjoyed watching Pete "Charlie Hustle" Rose play. He was my dad's favorite player. He has to think a minute to remember my birthdate...but he knows Pete Rose's date in the blink of an eye. So anyway...in the late 70s (I think it was 1978) Pope John Paul I died and while we were taking one of our many trips to Cincinnati we were listening to the radio and talking about the color of the smoke at the Vatican. So a young Michelle, innocently asks how they choose the Pope.

My mom and dad go into this long story that ends with all the Cardinals gathering and voting on who the next Pope should be...well, I was in the back seat of the station wagon sobbing. My parents asked what was wrong and I said if the Cardinals only get to vote for Pope, then Pete Rose doesn't have a chance....naturally my parent's found this hysterical....and thus, had to explain to me that yes, there are the St. Louis Cardinals and then there is the heirarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. Silly me.