This Sunday will be my first Father’s Day without my dad.

Throughout my childhood, playing and watching sports was the way I connected with my dad.  Maybe that’s why all 50 times I’ve watched the last scene of Field of Dreams, I’ve cried when Kevin Costner says “Hey dad, want to have a catch?”

When I was six years old – this is 1963 — I asked my dad why we rooted for the Mets instead of the Yankees.    The Mets were abysmal while the Yankees were a legend, and it seemed everyone else rooted for the “right” team.  How could we be so wrong?  My father’s answer:  “Because, dear, we root for the underdogs.”

Look, there’s nothing wrong with rooting for winners… if the Mets ever became perennial winners, I’d be ecstatic.  But there’s something special about […]