So, now it’s officially autumn. There’s a chill in the air and a crisp wind tossing the colorful leaves. Assignments are due and midterms are fast approaching. All of these occurrences lead my mind to one thing:

Baseball.

I love baseball. My dad taught me the love of America’s pastime at an early age, and I’ve been watching and cheering for the Minnesota Twins ever since.

I’ve loved the Twins for as long as I can remember. I grew up defining my allies and enemies at Robert Frost Elementary School by those who liked the Twins and those who didn’t. I would quickly come to blows with any snot-nosed little boy who thought the Kansas City Royals were better than my team.

In fact, I can clearly recall an intense hatred of the Royals throughout the early 1980s, because they beat the Twins and got to play in the World Series. I hated them. With a passion.

I have tons of great childhood memories involving the Twins. One of the coolest was watching the 1987 World Series with my family. We were all sitting in our living room during game six (St. Louis at Minnesota), when Kent Hrbek hit a grand slam in the sixth inning to win it for them, en route to their first World Championship.

Another great baseball memory was the entire 1991 season, when the Twins won 15 straight during June and July and took the Series in commanding fashion.

That whole year of my life can be defined by the Twins and the euphoria I felt when they won it all.

(That year also introduced a new hatred of the Atlanta Braves. Why were the Braves called “America’s Team?” What kind of crap was that? After all, the Braves LOST!)

Now things are a different story for my beloved Twins. They were lucky to get two wins in a row this season, much less 15. The Twins lost 26 more games than they won, and they’re certainly not still playing now.

Even though all this could be very upsetting to the average fan, I will not desert my team. No matter how many games they lose, I won’t give up. In spite of realignment, overpriced salaries and the Metrodome, the Twins will remain my favorite team.

I’ll always remember their 1990 season. The Twins went 74-88 and finished in the American League West cellar. This was the year before they won the Series.

You never know — that could happen again. (Winning, I mean, not finishing last. That will undoubtedly happen again.)

I’ll always love the Twins.

But, it’s the postseason, and I need someone to cheer for. So, I went through the list of postseason teams, and decided on the Cleveland Indians as my pick to win it all.

The Indians are cool for a number of reasons. First, they sucked a whole lot before they started winning. They lost 104 games in 1991. You’ve got to love a team that can come back from that. (Hmm, sounds vaguely like the Twins.)

Second, Albert Belle doesn’t play for the Indians anymore. I really can’t stand Belle.

When you get paid $11 million a year, you don’t throw balls at people, beat up kids at Halloween, flip off fans or swear at reporters. (It’s especially important to be nice to reporters. After all, we’ll never, ever, EVER make that much money.)

And third, my boyfriend likes the Indians.

So, I’ve been rooting for the Indians all the way through the postseason, and now they’re going to the Series, pitted against the five-year-old Florida Marlins.

As a baseball purist, I would have to cheer for the Indians anyway, because no rich, free-agent buying expansion team deserves to win the Series. (But, hey, at least they beat Atlanta.)

Go Indians! Win it all! Make my October. (And Twins: look into some decent pitching for next year.)

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Sara Ziegler is a sophomore in journalism from Sioux Falls, South Dakota.