When the Cubs made me their first round draft pick in 1991, it was easy to see it as a dream come true. The chance to play as a profession, a game that I loved since I could walk. My brother, eight years my senior, taught me the game, rule-by-rule, inning-by-inning, until I learned to love not only playing it, but the stats, the decisions, the cities, the culture, the history.
One of the first memories post draft, was of seeing a video of the organization I was joining. The Chicago Cubs. But because of my fandom, even as a kid from Jersey, I knew players on all the teams from watching This Week in Baseball, The Game of the Week, or playing Strat-O-Matic with my brother and friends.