Hall of Fame Dream Team

Sorry in advance, because the title of this post is not going to match what you thought you were going to get.

I rarely remember my dreams.  It’s extremely common that I will dream something and then as soon as I open my eyes, it’s gone from my memory.  For the past year or so, I have experienced this strange phenomenon where I will remember my dream the next night.  Meaning I wake up and forget and then at night I go to bed and finally recall my dream momentarily (and it’s gone the next morning).

Imagine my surprise when I woke one day and remembered my dream about baseball pretty well.  And then imagine my shock when the next night I had a different dream about baseball and remembered that one too!  I mean, I have to document this rare occurrence, especially since the dreams included me interacting with people I collect.

With the Hall of Fame announcements made yesterday, I thought now would be a good time to relay the events of the first dream.

The first baseball dream took place in this fancy convention center or hotel. I remember I was walking down to this balcony with a curved walkway and railing, probably about 5-10 stories up.  When I arrived, dressed in pretty nice clothes but nothing that ended up fitting the occasion, I saw Greg Maddux standing there.  There were some other people around the floor or lobby or whatever you want to call it (I remember several sets of double doors like what you would see in a grand hall or auditorium, although we never went in), but not a big crowd at all.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to Greg at all before he got behind a podium and started giving a speech congratulating me on my entry into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame!  It wasn’t until he started talking that I remembered playing baseball at all, but I didn’t think I was that good and I didn’t even know I was eligible for the hall, let alone elected to join.

I got the call

He started talking about how he admired my pitching (I guess I was a pitcher) and that so many people said that we had similar styles and approaches.  It was all incredibly touching in the dream world.  In the real world, my brain was easily reminding me that this was a dream because the crowd was so light (with no other baseball players in attendance) and no one seemed to be paying attention except for me.

After the speech, I briefly thanked him and told him I would have no idea that he even knew I existed and that it was a huge honor to have him speak about my career, etc.  Then I went downstairs to another level where there was a small reception and my family was there. They didn’t find it worthwhile to listen to the speech either and were down there with the food and cakes and drinks and asked how it all went.

That’s all I remember.  It was so strange to receive what I knew was a huge, exclusive honor and then have absolutely no one care.  A legend in my own mind, I suppose.

The second dream, I was playing in the MLB All-Star Game as part of the Cubs.  I wasn’t a pitcher in this one, but I don’t know what position I played.  My mind joined the dream in the third or fourth inning and the NL was down 6-0.  Kyle Hendricks made the AS squad, but gave up some of those runs, so it was up to us to try to comeback.

Foreshadowing an AS nod in 2019 perhaps

Somehow we scored a couple runs in the bottom of the inning and I was on third base.  I know Javier Baez was there and I think he might have pushed me over to third (not sure if I walked, got a single or double or what).

I think Contreras was also on the roster

So, I’m on third and David Ross comes up to bat.  He’s still retired, but somehow made the team.  He knocked a long double into the outfield and I was able to trot home. After I touched the bag, I jogged back up the third base line into the dugout and saw David had stopped at second and yelled at him “You could have stretched it into a triple, grandpa!” which made him laugh.

My new best friend

At that point it was 6-4 and unfortunately my brain had enough for one week with remembering stuff.  The comeback would not be completed, but at least I once again go to have a brief sensation of being a popular, good baseball player.  That’s what dreams are for, sometimes.

I wonder how many other sports dreams I’ve had in the past that got swept away with my eye crust.  If I happen to remember anymore, I’ll let you know.

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