We've all grown up.

It's been 11 years since the Toronto Blue Jays last won the World Series (of baseball). And it's been 11 years since I vividly watched baseball. But it wasn't the 1993 season that I remember best (in 1993, the Jays beat the Philidelphia Phillies); it was the 1992 season, when they first won the World Series.

I read yesterday about Roberto Alomar having played his last game the day before. At 39, he was having back problems and problem seeing among other things attributed to aging.

11 years ago, Roberto Alomar was my favourite baseball player. He played second base and, for the 1992 season, held the third spot in the batting lineup. The Toronto Blue Jays were a great team back then. I could recall the entire Lineup during the World Series (Pat Borders, John Olerud, Roberto Alomar, Kelly Gruber, Manual Lee, Candy Maldonado, Joe Carder, and Dave Winfield).
Up until after the 1993 season Cito Gaston was their manager. Then he was fired and the Toronto Blue Jays traded away many of their good players. They haven't won a World Series Title since then.

But I'm not blogging to complain about the Toronto Blue Jays. I'm writing to talk about how long it's been since I last took interest in baseball. Spring training 1993 I watched every game I could. I didn't even know when spring training began in '94 and I don't recall ever watching a complete game, let alone a few innings, since then. My interests changed, and I started watching other things or doing other things.
The point is, the 1992 Toronto Blue Jays will forever remain a childhood fascination for me. The magic of watching a team win the World Series through the eyes of an 11 year old will always be there. But time goes on. The players you watched in their prime 11 years ago have, or will be soon, retired.