I'm Sorry, Alyssa Milano

I misjudged you. I still don’t like your flair-covered clothing line, but I respect your intentions and you and I are more alike than I ever thought I could admit. You’re no bandwagon baseball fan and I apologize for thinking you’re a serial pitcher dater. You’re true blue, and I would burn a pink hat with you any day.

The reason for my about-face has to do with an article Milano posted on her blog a few months ago. In a piece, entitled “The Female Fan and The Business of Baseball,” Milano discussed how television executives like to court women because they are the most loyal viewers and the most loyal consumers. Loyalty translates to the sports world, but the sports world does not necessarily embrace loyalty as a commodity. Milano asks, “How does the way baseball business is run affect the loyal female fan or the potential female fan? And do you think baseball would have more female fans if there were more franchise players signed to longer contracts?” I’m with Samantha Micelli on this one. Women invest themselves in people, not statistics. Sure, we want our teams to win, but we also want to root for the same players year after year. We don’t want pink hats; we just want our boys.

Some players and front offices value loyalty as a commodity, but with the induction of Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn this weekend, I feel like we’re celebrating a dying breed. I’m grateful that I remember the days when Brett meant Royals, Yount meant Brewers, Sandberg meant Cubs, Mattingly meant Yankees, and Murphy meant Braves. This was the era in which I grew to love baseball, and it’s still hard to adjust to a time in which contracts and trade deadlines monopolize the headlines.

The business of baseball can break the bonds of loyalty, but sometimes the bonds are too tough to break. Tonight I’ll be standing by the visitors' dugout of RFK Stadium, waiting for Jeff Conine to emerge. A member of the Royals, Marlins, Royals again, Orioles, Marlins, Orioles again, Phillies, and now the Reds, Conine has made decisions and has had decisions made for him, but through it all, I've remained loyal. He doesn’t play for my favorite team and I don’t really care if his current team wins tonight, but I do want to see him on the field one last time before he retires from the game that hasn’t always been loyal to him and to his fans.