My husband, Tim Hartley, doesn’t “do” social media or have a blog. He was inspired over the weekend to actually write a post and asked if he could be a guest blogger on my blog. After you read this, you’ll know quickly why I said yes. You’ll also gain insight as to why I fell in love with this man 32+ years ago and why I fall more in love with him each day. 

You can’t always get what you want.

This seems to go without saying, but the Rolling Stones said it anyway. And now their song, conceived in 1969, is an anthem of timeless wisdom.

Which brings us to baseball. And to what we want.

‘Cause if you try sometime, you just might find, get what you need.

I don’t really follow baseball; just the Cardinals. And what I want is for them to win. I don’t always get what I want, but in my lifetime of 55 years, I’ve gotten what I need; 5 World Series championships and nine – NINE! – National League pennants. And, in the glorious history of America’s best baseball city, St. Louis has 11 total World Series championships and I don’t know how many National League pennants. Being able to lose count of such a thing is definitely what you want.

Enough about the Cardinals, right? Because I don’t really follow baseball, I didn’t realize until as recently as 2012 that the Cardinals are not – NOT! – loved by all.

Which brings us to the Cubs. There’s not a human being alive today who remembers the last time Chicago won the World Series. But being Chicago, they have figured out how to be involved in baseball conversations since 1908, to the point where there’s an actual rivalry with the Cardinals. Think about that. The losers have mustered a rivalry with the winners. That’s the moxie of Chicago.

On Saturday night at Wrigley Field, the Cubs won the National League pennant. You’d have to be pushing 80 to remember the last time that happened, 1945. It was not what I wanted.

And then, over at Oktoberfest in Tulsa, a certain Cubs fan showed up after the game. His name is Nathan, and he’s from Cubs country in Iowa, and my daughter Sarah loves him. I got to see what it looks like when a kid’s team just won the pennant for the first time in his life. You get what you need.

What’s more, this is a Cubs guy, trying to contain his euphoria (pretty well) and compose himself (very well) in front of a Cardinals guy who is also his girlfriend’s father. This was no easy assignment.

Being a Cardinals guy, I was only 6 when it happened to me the first time, but a better comparison is 1982, when I was 21, able to legally toast my winning ball club with a can or two of Budweiser. I might not have been very composed. I never thought about it until now, but it’s a good thing I didn’t even have a girlfriend, let alone a girlfriend’s Cub-fan father, to meet after the Cardinals won.

I was at Washington State University at the time, where our beloved sports announcer, Bob Robertson, closes every broadcast with the same admonition: “Always be a good sport. Be a good sport all ways.”

We all know that’s no easy assignment. And meanwhile, in St. Louis, they’re widely advertised as the “Best Fans in Baseball.” Living up to that one can be a challenge as well.

Especially now, when they’re not getting what they want. But if they try some time (to see this through a Cubs fan’s eyes), they’ll get what they need.

Oh, and Go CLEVELAND!