A couple days ago, a local baseball broadcaster said, “In April we say, ‘it’s early’. But now it’s May.”
This is poetic because it references baseball, but it could apply to anything. Or nothing. It could be incredibly deep and thought-provoking. Or it could be stupid. For all I know it’s just meaningless gibberish.
So, it’s May and it’s no longer early (unless you’re a basil plant in which case … ok, you there, basil, it’s early. Pipe down and stay inside a few more days.)
Since it’s no longer early, I should be able to tell you who’s going to the playoffs.
But, I can’t. Because it’s still early. Unless, it’s already way too late.
Who knows?
(The Orioles are going to the playoffs by the way, but it’s too early to be saying that. Except parenthetically, of course.)
If you’re the Angels of Anaheim, it is early. You may be doing poorly (which leads to much mocking at your expense), but you’re one of baseball’s big spenders, one or two of those millions of dollars must surely pay off eventually. (You might want to have a little get-together with the Dodgers and talk all this “money well spent” thing out.)
If you’re the Red Sox … you are doing very well. You are doing better than anyone, and better than anyone expected. You’re off to a fast start.
(There, Red Sox fans, are you happy now? I said something nice. It’s not like I am always sitting here reminding you of the Curse of the Andino every time I mention Boston.)
But here’s the thing. The Red Sox are like the couple who shows up an hour before the party starts. (And, they’re usually the people you didn’t really want to invite, but felt you had to, because they would eventually find out they weren’t invited, because everyone else was, and it’s going to lead to some awkward moments on Monday. So, just to make things easy you invite them and hope they have other plans … and then, dammit, they show up an hour early. But, they do bring spinach dip, so that’s nice.)
Anyway, the Red Sox often get off to very fast starts. They love early.
The Yankees just lean against the wall, fold their arms, tap their feet, whistle tunelessly, and wait. Eventually, the Red Sox’ early runs out. Then the Yankees slowly step over the smoldering wreckage and into first. I hate that.
The Yankees know it’s still early because most of their stars are on the disabled list. So, it’s too early to know how good or how bad their season will be, because they’re not even playing yet.
And, the Dodgers keep getting hurt, so it’s impossible to know how early or late it is for them.
If your team is off to a shaky – but not horrific – start (hi, Baltimore!) then it’s still early. Sure, the Red Sox are smokin’ hot, but you’re only 3.5 games back.
The Red Sox are going to fold like a massage therapist on laundry day. (Inside joke there for my fellow therapists.)
So, Orioles fans, lots of time left. It’s still early. It’s also never too late to find a fifth starting pitcher, so you just keep looking, ok?
If you’re woefully dreadful, because your owners have sold off all your stars, pocketed the profits, and still think they can stick you for an $8 hotdog and 25 players you’ve never heard of, then yes, for you Miami Marlins fan, it probably is too late. But, you still have the Bobblehead Museum, so there is that.
(Observation: why do the Red Sox and the Yankees get to feast on poor Houston’s bones all through April? Don’t they have to play anyone else? And, you just know Houston’s going to have a magical little mini-surge in there somewhere, and it better not be when they’re playing the Orioles.)
So here’s where we are as May kicks off.
Every division has two or three teams playing better than .500 ball. They’re doing well. They had good early.
And, every division has two or three teams playing sub-.500 ball. But, never count a late bloomer out. (See, Astros … I got your back.)
Maybe it’s not too early or too late. Every day brings new possibilities.
A pitcher down in some Triple A town last night might have finally figured out how to pitch, rather than throw. He may be ready for a June promotion. He may save a team’s season.
Or one night, a star’s knee buckles on a routine play and suddenly everything changes.
So what’s the Yoga lesson?
For those who say it’s still early. They’re wrong.
For those who say it’s no longer early. They’re wrong, too.
For those who say it’s not too late. You might be right.
And, for those who say it’s too late. Just you wait.
It’s just right now.
Or, as baseball legend Yogi Berra said, “It ain’t over till it’s over.”
My husband/editor would like to add that of the teams that led their divisions on April 30, 2012, only one (the Nationals) went on to win their division. So put him down as a vote for “it’s still early.”
In other baseball news, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis is, sadly, no longer on pace to hit 162 homeruns this season. He also hurt himself during last night’s game. One wonky knee can spoil things for everybody. (Get well soon, Mr. Davis!)
As for me, I cracked my head against the wall in the bathroom this morning. I’m not sure how or why this happened, short of the wall reaching out and just smacking me for no good reason. While I’m probably going to be ok, if you never see another post here from me, you’ll know why.
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The Baseball Bloggess 