Silly Little Game

Yes, it’s been a long while since I last posted. No, I don’t care. This is my blog and I can post about what I want, whenever I want, kapeesh?!

So let’s catch up. The Dodgers lost, it was heartbreaking and disappointing and it put me in one of the worst moods I’ve been in in a while, to the point that my wife thought somebody died. “Someone did die! My hopes and dreams!”

Baseball is a funny game, man. For fanatics like myself, the season technically starts in the Winter when the MLB Winter Meetings take place. Merely 2 months after the season ends, it begins again. It’s not a huge deal, but every once in a while something big happens at the meetings. In 2011, reigning World Series Champion Albert Pujols signed a 10 year, $250 million deal with the Angels in a move that hasn’t paid off for those damn Angels. Even Joseph Gordon-Levitt can’t help them…

And in 2014, the Dodgers made a mad dash at the end of the 4 day event. In the span of 24 hours, they managed to ink 6 trades involving 4 teams and 19 players in all. It was a Winter that kick started a new Dodgers identity, one that would be constructed of home grown players that ranked up through the Dodgers system. All this to say, sometimes the Winter meetings are an exciting precursor to the actual season. After that, comes March, and with March comes Spring Training, which is also not the actual season but still a very exciting month for baseball fans. There is no other sport that gets as pumped for the technical pre-season than baseball. Just ask this guy.

Then, almost magically, the calendar reaches the end of March and Opening Day peeks it little head out of its burrow to grace us all with its wonderful presence. Opening Day is better than most things in life. A good Animal Style In N Out burger doesn’t come close. Christmas can’t even compare. Losing your virginity – ok well maybe that one is a poor example. The point is, Opening Day ROCKS. It’s the start of a brand new season, full of joy and new aspirations. For 29 teams, it means redemption, revenge, and a chance at what they missed out on last season. For 1 team, it means defending their crown over the next 6 months. For fans of all teams, it means one thing:

But that’s a post for an upcoming sunny March afternoon (lookin’ at you, March 26th, 2020).

Then the grind begins. 6 months of regular season ball, 162 games, all of which matter (just ask the 2018 Dodgers, who had to play a 163rd game to determine who would win the NL West). And after such a long slog through such a difficult terrain, what do you get? A month (if you’re lucky) of anxiety as your team battles it out for a chance at the World Series.

Only to lose it all in the first round. Yes, the 2019 Dodgers failed to live up to expectations. Easily the best team in the National League, the Dodgers were set up to make a run through the postseason. Then they ran into a red hot Washington Nationals team. A Nationals team who beat the Dodgers in Game 5, swept the Cardinals in the NLCS, and now hold a 2-0 lead over the powerhouse Houston Astros in the World Series.

Your baseball mind tends to take over in moments like this. “What if the Dodgers played better in Game 5, and won it? Hell, what if they played better in the whole NLDS and won it? Would they also have swept the Cardinals? Would they also hold a 2-0 lead over the Astros right now?” The fan in me wants to say ‘of course!’ but the realist in me knows that that may not be true. The Dodgers blew it. You can’t win a World Series with a sputtering wheel spinning offense. You can’t win a World Series giving up a Grand Slam in extra innings. A lot of blame can be thrown around and I’m sure The Boys In Blue have done so to themselves. The fact of the matter is that baseball is a silly little game and anything can happen. Even a World Series caliber team shitting the bed.

If it hasn’t been obvious, I’m a pretty hardcore fan. I tend to take loss hard. I’ve always prided myself on my sportsmanship, so after a game I will always say good game and shake hands that deserve to be shaken. I’ll always credit another team if they outplayed us. I’ve always tried to not be a sore loser, but my wife would probably argue that she’s never seen that side of me. She’s seen me watch losses and yell and scream, kick and hit things, and even throw an occasional remote or two. Sore loser indeed. But I’m just being a fan, right? Wrong.

Your fandom is not measured by how poorly you react to your team not performing to your standards. It’s also not measured by how boastful you are with a winning team, but I wouldn’t know anything about that because I’m a Dodgers and Raiders fan, and I’ve never seen them win it all in my lifetime. But to circle back, you shouldn’t yell and scream and throw a fit because your team (who has no direct effect on you) doesn’t play well. Like I said, I take loss hard, so I had to write myself a little note to remind myself of this. I’ll give you a little background on it.

I was lucky enough to go to Game 6 of the 2017 World Series. It was my first World Series game ever, and I was pumped. I was also anxious and full of nerves. The Dodgers were down 3-2 to the Astros, and the game was here in Los Angeles, which meant there was a very real possibility that I was about to watch the Astros win it all on our home field. So to prepare myself, I wrote a little note, and I share it with you now in hopes that maybe it’ll help you deal with sports loss in a healthier manner. It goes like this:

“I know it sucks and it hurts like hell, but just try to remember that it is just a game and at the end of the day, it has no effect on your immediate life. It’s ok for you to hurt because it means so much to you, that’s ok. And I know it sucks to hear but there is always next year. They’re an amazing team and you’ve spent your entire life loving and supporting them, and in the end it’s that passion and love that really brings you the enjoyment and happiness. Everything else on top of that is bonus.”

Look guys, we’re not the ones being paid millions of dollars to win games. We’re not the ones who have the sole job of winning championships. We’re just the fans. At the end of the day, sports are just part of the wide net that is the entertainment industry. We love our teams and we love the games, and in the end that’s what truly matters to us, as fans. It entertains us, and if the team we choose to root for happens to win it all, whether that be a World Series, a Super Bowl, an NBA Championship, etc., then what a wonderful treat that is. But if they don’t, as all but 1 team does every year, we were still blessed with the joy and fun and entertainment that a season of sports brings us.

Baseball is a silly little game. But dammit if I don’t love it to death.