Robert Duvall said it

After I wrote this post I went to sleep. It was the next morning, in the shower, when I remembered that the Athletics had moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City in 1955, so the Cardinals were the westernmost Major League team only until then, not when the Giants and Dodgers moved west in '58, as I had intimated. It was a small mistake, but I had plans to update my post.

But cousin was Bobby on the Spot and got it corrected yesterday. Well, he lives in KC after all.

Allow me a few more words about the placement of baseball fans. Obviously, they can be anywhere and it would be nice to have some accounting for it, but a map is probably not the solution for that.

Take Boston, for example. I recently read an article about a group of Braves fans living in Boston who are passionate and go to great lengths to display their allegiance. The Braves, as you probably know, began in Boston as one of the 'Original 8' National League teams.* The Braves were the older team in Boston compared to the Red Sox and as such, had a large following. In fact, many people were convinced the wrong team left Boston when the Braves went to Milwaukee in 1953.

Of course, this isn't necessarily universal. I cannot recall meeting anyone from St. Louis or even in the Show-Me state who is a Baltimore Orioles fan, even though the Orioles are the old St. Louis Browns. But I do hear about Browns fan clubs.

The mention I made about the Yankees having fans in Tampa has to do with a few factors, not the least of which is that they have had spring training in St. Petersburg or Tampa for decades. Also the huge number of New York transplants in Florida as well as the numerous championships and star players the Yankees have produced.

Well, I've blathered on long enough. But there is one more bit of housekeeping. In the previous post I referred to a movie quote in the title. Today's title tells you the actor who said it. The character he played was Hub McCann. He says it to his nephew, Walter. And the movie was 'Second Hand Lions'. I tried to google this scene, but I can't find it. It's a pivotal scene in a terrific movie.

*The National League began in 1876 and the cities represented then were much different than the ones I refer to as the 'Original 8'. The '8' I am referring to were the League as it was constituted in 1903 when the Western League established itself as another Major League and changed it's name to the American League. It also consisted of 8 members. That 1903 season was a signal year that ushered in more 'modern' baseball.