Friday April 6th, 2012 – Fox Lake, IL
Baseball season is back, and I couldn’t care any less. I just wish I knew why not. Am I growing intellectually and spiritually as a human being and focusing on higher things, or am I just moving through the process of life and just plain getting old? It doesn’t really matter. Baseball bores me.
I never ever thought I’d say that, but it’s true. I felt scorched by my hometown Brewers tanking it in the playoffs last fall, and it left a bad taste in my mouth that’s still there. I’d been waiting for a taste of World Series championship cheesecake since 1982 when that team crushed my hopes.
Last year’s post season pratfall was totally inexcusable, and I refuse to hear the annoying “hey, they almost did it” claptrap. Sorry - they LOST. I invested forty frustrating seasons waiting for a single championship, and that’s enough. Even if the prince did show up, I still have that hideous taste of frog in my mouth and it won’t go away. Enough is enough. My tolerance tank is tapped.
It didn’t help any that they lost the home opener to the same dreaded Cardinals who stuck it to them in ’82 and last October. Three strikes and you’re out. And not only did they lose; they were toasted like a bagel 11-5. I know it’s the first game of the season, but I’ve seen enough for 2012.
The Cubs and the White Sox aren’t going to go anywhere either. As a kid, I’d listen to all three teams on the radio, and was too stupid to know I wasn’t supposed to be cheering for all three. I’d spend many a summer night in my youth going back and forth between all three games at once.
Now, I really don’t care about any of it. More than a few of my friends are immersed in fantasy leagues, and every year they ask religiously if I’d like to join in all their ‘fun’. It’s way too much like work to keep up with all those players, and there just isn’t enough of a payoff for me to do it.
The Florida Marlins have won TWO World Series titles, and they’ve only been in the National League since 1993. They’re the favorites of a lot of people to win it all this year too. That’s great for them, but what about the fans of the Brewers or Cubs? I feel extremely cheated, even though the White Sox did win it in 2005. I’m not really a White Sox fan, even though I don’t hate them.
I don’t love or hate any teams. I have no passion at all. I used to really care if the Brewers won or lost, but after the magic year of ‘82 they slid down into the pit of mediocrity and only recently returned to give the fans a little hope. Then they used those hopes as a floor mat. Count me out.
I’m not saying I won’t go to another baseball game, but if I don’t I won’t be upset. I would get just as much or maybe more entertainment out of attending a minor league or even a well played high school game than pissing my pesos away on a Brewers game. It doesn’t mean a thing to me.
I’m sorry I feel this way, but I do. Would the team winning the World Series in ’82 or last year make me feel differently? Maybe. But I won’t know now, will I? The damage is done, and I have other things to do with my summer than waste valuable time counting on a bunch of millionaires to bring me a feeling of accomplishment. I have to get it myself, and that victory will be sweeter.
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