'82, the Braves and the Dodgers

Playoffs ... the new season ... 

I remember the first time I could watch baseball on a daily basis. It was 1983 when we first moved to Elk Rapids, Mich., and could have cable TV. What a change it was from having three channels to having like 25. I could watch the Cubs on WGN and the Braves on WTBS — every single day. It was different. I was used to watching the Tigers around 10 times per season. This, truly, was a "whole new ballgame."

We eventually had PASS which allowed us to watch the Tigers much more regularly (but it was nothing like FSD). Back then you had to read the Sporting News or Sports Illustrated and the Sunday paper to know what was going on in the baseball world. We didn't have the Internet, Twitter, blogs, or anything like we do today. You had to read the American League and National League Red and Green books to be up to speed on players. We didn't have ESPN's unbelievable archive of statistics.

Back in '82, though, the Braves were getting better but they could not beat the Los Angeles Dodgers. At least that's what the folks on TBS kept saying. "Just can't beat the team we have to beat." Please understand that the geography of the U.S. was different back then, as both the Dodgers and Braves were in the National League West. That is a true story.