Saturday: Won an Authentic Alfonso Soriano Jersey

At least I think it's the authentic one. On Saturday, Mordecai, Joe and I dropped by Elite Sports Card & Comics on Montrose by Damen to see if any of us won a raffle/sweepstakes contest we had automatically entered by buying boxes of Topps Series 2 cards a few weeks ago. For every X number of packs you purchase (I forget how many, we aren't at this Little League level), you get to enter Y number of raffle tickets, and for every hobby box or jumbo box you purchase, you get to enter Y + more raffle tickets. Since Mordecai and I got a hobby and jumbo (Big Leagues), we entered a lot of tickets. The owner, John had the tickets and corresponding prizes listed on a sheet of paper. A 5 year old won an autographed Kerry Wood photograph, and a 74 year old man won some stickers of something unknown. I WON FIRST PRIZE, AN AUTHENTIC ALFONSO SORIANO JERSEY (MEDIUM).

I waltzed into Elite with my new White Sox jacket, too. This just adds to the long history I have with the Cubs, where it seems like I should be a solid Cubs fan. I've written this elsewhere, but I'll say it again: I spent a large portion of my childhood/adolescence half a block from Wrigley Field at my grandma's; I went to a day care with Shawn Dunston's daughters; I went to many Cubs games with said day care; I have met Ernie Banks and have a personlized autograph from him; many of my friends and classmates are Cubs fans; I have met Koyie Hill and have a personlized autograph from him; and now, I win this jersey. The other jerseys that are going to be up for prizes in the next rounds are the Phillie's and Joe's favorite, Chase Utley and the Giant's and Joe's other favorite/Filipino brother, Tim Lincecum. I would've preferred Lincecum because he's on my fantasy team, but I guess it's fitting for me to win a Cubs jersey. At least I don't think lowly of Soriano. His face looks a little skull-ish to me, but I like him fine, and would prefer his jersey over that of other "Cubbies," save for maybe Ryan Dempster because he's also on my fantasy team. This jersey will probably not be worn, but I will hang it and take care of it with tons of pride and gratitude for Elite and John.

Upon careful inspection (Mordecai happened to capture the moment, even though the photo is a little out of focus), I noticed the giant Cubs logo on the front that is bigger than my face is made to look like it's sewn on. The little black zig-zags are merely printed instead of being actual thread. I'm not sure of the details of an authentic jersey, but I really hope the actual "Cubbies" aren't running around with the same patch, because that'd be sad and lame, much like reported crappy facilities in Wrigley Field.

In closing, I want to say that I thought maybe this was a sign that I should "transcend team loyalties" like one of UIC's finest, Prof. Jon Jarrett, who specializes in the foundations of quantum mechanics (or something like that). I only talk to him about baseball (never took physics in my life), and he once told me to email him a list of my favorite players because he collects cards. My email ended up being this long-winded explanation of liking Japanese players, the White Sox over the Cubs, and now a growing, fuzzy love for the Tigers, and how fantasy is just fueling me into overdrive. I ran into him the next day by the mailboxes, and I said hi, and he looked at me and started laughing. In the email, I had asked him about this mysterious "transcending team loyalties" thing. Since all I got in response so far is laughter, I'm still kind of lost in fantasy/personal biases, not knowing exactly how to feel about this Soriano jersey as a Soriano jersey, versus as a prize from Elite and John. If he ever writes back or clarifies the "ascent" or what the Land Beyond is like, I'll certainly update here or on the Marauders of Time blog or Third Base or Bust. Maybe I'll just have to straight up interview him.