Meeting Eric Karros: Dodger Legend and My Hero
By Blake Keathley
For as long as I can remember, I have been a fan of the Los Angeles Dodgers. I grew up in Central California in a house divided; my dad is a lifelong fan of the Dodgers while my mom is loyal to the San Francisco Giants. So the first opportunity he got, my dad packed me in the car, put a Dodgers cap on my head and a Dodgers Dog in my hand, and in those moments, my allegiances were sealed forever.
I am very fortunate to have a wealth of memories that I’ll cherish forever, and I’ll always be thankful for the quality time that I got to spend with my father and friends at Dodgers Stadium. However, no individual game has been as memorable as the game I most recently attended at Dodgers Stadium on May 1, 2015. Even if the Dodgers had lost 100-0 to the Diamondbacks that night, nothing could have taken away from the excitement that I was fortunate enough to experience before the game.
In order to understand why this moment is so significant in my baseball fandom, I first have to say that Eric Karros has been my favorite baseball player since the first Dodgers game I attended in 1995. Throughout my own baseball career, I always wore #23 in his honor and even though he hasn’t played in the big leagues since 2004, I’m fairly certain no baseball player will ever come close to meaning as much to me as Eric Karros did in my childhood.