The Slice: Magnum P.I.-clone no longer a loser

Sometimes you just get a good feeling about someone.

There was this guy I used to see when walking home from work. I’d be headed up the hill. He was coming down.

We’d nod and smile.

He looked to be about my age. Without any real evidence, I decided he worked at Sacred Heart.

I never got to know him. We remained strangers. But every once in a while, he’d ask me how the Tigers were doing.

You see, I’ve been wearing a Detroit Tigers cap for years.

Before I go any further, I probably ought to spell out a couple of things.

My Tigers-fan credentials are not what you would call impeccable. One strike against me is the simple fact that I don’t exactly live and die with baseball.

But I did reside in Michigan for a short time as a kid. The last major league game I attended was at Comerica Park a few years ago (the Tigers beat the Mariners). During the regular season, I usually check each morning to see if the Tigers won. I like talking about the team with a co-worker who grew up in Michigan. And my sister-in-law, who lives outside Detroit, has kept me well-supplied with Tigers caps over the years.

I don’t really think of myself as a ball cap kind of guy. I’ve seen too many other baby boomers try to use them as a shield against aging. It never works.

But these hats are practical and fit nicely in my shoulder bag.

And “Magnum, P.I.” has been off the air long enough that I needn’t fear someone will assume I’m trying to be Tom Selleck (who often wore a Tigers cap in that show).

One of the things I liked about wearing the dark blue cap adorned with the stylized white “D” is the fact no one would assume I was jumping on the bandwagon of a championship team.

Year after year, Detroit piled up losing records.

So when my sidewalk friend asked how the team was doing, coming up with an answer was easy.

“Not too good,” I’d say.

He’d wince. I could sense that he was not much of a sports fan. But in that moment, this guy silently communicated, “Sorry to hear that – I wish your team was doing better.”

That really made me like him.

It was a small thing. But I believe it is such moments that keep us from regarding every stranger as an enemy.

Eventually I stopped seeing him. Maybe he got a new job or a different schedule.

I missed him this season, though. As you might have heard, the Tigers started winning. They are going to the World Series.

I would have enjoyed being asked how they are doing. It’s not that I wanted to gloat. But I would have liked to see that nice guy smile when I answered.

“They’re doing great. Thanks for asking.”

“Today’s Slice question: How many people remember going to WSU football games in Spokane?