© The Baseball Bloggess
“Is it as good as you remembered?”
You know what I mean.
You go back to your old stomping grounds – your childhood home, your college campus, or that place where you did that thing that you did for the very first time – and you are sure you will conjure up the very same feelings, the very same wonder, the very same joy that whatever it was once brought you.
It never does, does it?
So when I write “Happy Opening Day” … as I write every year … I know there’s no going back to baseball’s old stomping grounds this year.
Opening Day has always been – should always be – a time of hope, a time of joy. Even when your team is crummy, there’s still hope, right? Maybe not as crummy? Not as crummy as last year.
I don’t feel hopeful today.
I feel foreboding.
You’ve got one team that doesn’t have a home to play in. Players opting out for their own safety. Empty stadiums filled with weird artificial noise.
Artificial joy.
But, as long as they insist on playing, I will make the most of it.
Happy Opening Day.
Go O’s!
The Baseball Bloggess 
I’m making the most of baseball not being ‘normal’ this year as well. I’m ready for the Yankees and Nationals tonight in DC without the fans and I’m excited for the Yankees home opener on July 29th against Philadelphia . I’m going to make the most out of this not so 2020 baseball season. Let’s Go Yankees!
That’s the spirit!
North Dakota’s COVID-19 rate is considerably lower than the rest of the U.S. (remember, the state that invented social distancing), so we have the Redhawks and Winnipeg Goldeyes playing AA ball in Fargo, but more important, high school coaches who saw their teams go through the spring without ball and American Legion schedules called off, have the kids playing Independent League games, so we’ve had baseball to watch. Then again, a close Twins fan texted after last night’s exhibition loss to the Cubs that he was giving up on the Twins. I asked if he’s auditioning for Quaid’s role in Major League II and he said yes, that character lacked the proper spirit. Go, Cubs, go. ABNY, anyone but New York.
Things are getting a bit worse here … so we’ll be social distancing, North Dakota style, for a while.
I’ve been watching the KBO so I’m used to the fake crowd noise now and don’t even notice it anymore. I agree about the foreboding feeling. I don’t think they should be playing and this season isn’t going to mean anything anyway. I’ll still watch and make the most of it, like you will be, but I feel very conflicted about it.
If they insist on playing, we should at least take advantage and enjoy it as much as we can. Might as well …
I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do. A big part of me wants to just ignore this pathetic excuse of a season. I’m angry at MLB for making it happen. Whatever happens to my Giants, in what remains of this summer, will be overshadowed by a huge asterisk, and the stats will be argued over for years to come. Will I “boycott” the season? Probably not, but neither, I suspect, will I experience much enthusiasm.
For the first time in my life, Baseball feels like a habit that I’ve never gotten over- or even a religion that I’m questioning for the first time, after a lifetime of observance. I don’t think I’ll ever become apostate, but I’m questioning my attendance, and my tithing will sure as Hell suffer.
Hyperbolic metaphors aside, it just feels terrible. I just want this summer- and this season- to be over, one way or another. Not a happy fan.
I’ve been thinking about this … and I’m wearing my Yoga hat now. I always remind my students that our brain — our mindset — has a powerful affect on how we grapple with challenging realities. I’m considering this one of those “challenging reality” moments. I can boycott, or throw in the towel, or just stomp my feet in frustration (which I’ve done), but that doesn’t change anything. That just makes me more miserable.
But, if they insist on playing, I can at least try to get a little bit of the sustenance that baseball gives me … and that’s an escape. The MLB can screw everything up and yet the game is going to be there. And, goodness knows, I need that more than ever. If nothing else, I can watch a game instead of the news. That alone is an improvement on my mindset.
So I figure, one inning at a time. I’m just going to take things one inning at a time. And, I’ll work to find the sweet spot of happiness that’s hiding in there somewhere.
Stick with it, John. Your Giants need you.
I am chagrined and humbled, Jackie. I’m a psychotherapist by trade, and your answer was exactly the one I might have given if I were thinking more clearly about all this. I bow in your general direction (which would be East, because from Oakland everything is East), and I’ll take your advice to heart. Thanks. (And, feel free to bill me.)
We are so pumped over here! I’m not so sure what everybody’s worried about. Everything is gonna be just fine. “Let’s go Go-Go White Sox! Chicago’s proud of you!”
I appreciate your optimism. I sure hope you’re right.
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