Cousin Bud

My grandpa, PopPop, is a pretty cool guy. He makes the world's best apple cinnamon pancakes and lets his sons-in-law call him "Coach." He is also a pretty quiet guy, and if you've ever met my (impossibly loud) family, you would understand why. The one story I can always squeeze out of him, though, is the story of the day he became a Cardinals fan.

PopPop is my professor of all things baseball and, despite being born and raised in Pennsylvania, is a lifelong supporter of the St. Louis Cardinals. His devotion started one fateful day, 70-something years ago, when he agreed to go to a Yankees game with his cousin Bud.

Cousin Bud, PopPop says, would just go on and on about the Yankees. He would rattle off stats, taunt the other team and generally be obnoxious.

On this day, it just so happened that the other team was - you guessed it - the St. Louis Cardinals. And they beat the pants off of Cousin Bud's precious Yankees.

"Well, that shut him up," PopPop says with a chuckle. And he's been a Cardinals fan ever since.

Me and PopPop routing for his second favorite team.