Getting to First Base

Despair and ecstacy…aka, being a baseball fan

Tuesday, the Royals played their first game. It was OK, until our manager put in a really crappy reliever. I swear, everyone on the planet except the manager knew what was going to happen, and sure enough…the reliever (Kyle Farnsworth), gave up what ended up as the game-losing home run.

The starting pitcher’s excellent outing had been wasted, and it was just a depressing way to start the season. I was so upset, that I felt ill. And then I publicly compared our fine manager to a chimpanzee.

That’s no way to start off a season, after waiting through an eternal winter. No, it wasn’t right at all! And, of course, I’m a sports fan. You probably are too. We know – it’s not a rational activity in the slightest. In the grand scheme of things, will anyone care that the Royals blew one game by putting in the wrong reliever?

I’m tempted to answer “yes,” but I know that’s not the case.

And yet, that loss soured my mood for the rest of the day. I felt like I had been dumped by a guy, in public…and then peed my pants or something. Just terrible.

Mind you, I’m aware that’s not rational. It’s one game in a 162-game season, and one season in (hopefully) many in my life. I’m still healthy and receiving higher education, and I have a great family and friends, and I really have few reasons to be so grumpy.

I was anyway, until tonight’s Royals game. New day, new outlook – and a clean slate. This time, the team did things right, and got a fabulously-pitched win. The White Sox hitters looked silly as heck against our starting pitcher, setup man, and closer. They couldn’t do diddly-poo, and I couldn’t have been more pleased and relieved.

Even though only baseball changed between Tuesday and Wednesday, I like the Wednesday version of my life a LOT better than the gut-punch that baseball gave me Tuesday. Nope – not rational. But it’s better than not being a fan of anything, right?