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So it was only last week, as I was walking near Bondi Beach just outside Sydney, when three college-age women strolled by, one of them wearing a Detroit Tigers cap.
The Michigan native part of me couldn't help but stir.
"Go Tigers!" I told her.
"They get going in eight days!" she said eagerly.
So I figured I'd better scramble to the airport and head home. Doggone if she wasn't right. Even Down Under, the magic of baseball sparkles and the anticipation spreads.
From kangaroos to Tigers, from kookaburras to Orioles and Blue Jays and Cardinals, finally, it's here.