Rick's Blog: Baseball predictions … an annual rite

I love baseball.

I have read sports magazines forever. I subscribed to Sports Illustrated for a year back in 1981 or so. I didn't dig it much because it didn't focus enough on baseball. I enjoyed Baseball Digest but it just didn't seem timely enough for the young version of myself. I started subscribing to The Sporting News in December of 1982. I stayed with TSN for more than 20 years. I enjoyed all the articles, columns, and especially that Joe Falls (my Grandpa Morgan's good friend) contributed every week.

TSN came in the mail every single week. I devoured each and every issue. I even read about more than baseball. I became a modern sports trivia machine. I could answer any question. But one teacher once called me a walking encyclopedia of baseball. I'm still kind of proud about that.

My favorite letter to the editor EVER in TSN:

Taken from the world's greatest weekly news publication EVER:

"My friends and I were cruising along I-69 when we saw a Vette with a Detroit Tigers license plate. I grabbed my Sporting News and read through the Tigers story again (SN, June 16)--that Vette was the writer's car! We slowed down and tried to get Steven Losey to stop. I rolled down the window, showed him the magazine and shouted, "Pull over; we want to talk to you!" Steven pulled over and signed my copy. We talked for a few minutes and took pictures of him and the plate. Pretty cool!"
--Rick Heitmeyer, Sheridan, Mich.The Sporting News, June 30, 2006

Every spring I would buy several prediction magazines. I mean, I would buy them if they predicted the Tigers to finish where I thought they would finish. I was always realistic: every year I thought the Tigers had made enough moves to finish strong — EXCEPT from about 1996–2004 or so! Those were the darkest years in the history of the Detroit Tigers.

That's why this TWEET caused me to get fired up today: