Monday, September 29, 2008
Welcome Back.
While it’s been a busy year since I last posted on this blog, I wake up on the verge of October to find that my interest in baseball remains steadfast. I admit, it waned a bit this season, as I followed an uninspiring and lethargic Yankee team tread water for most of the summer and then collapse in a 6-week stretch of baseball, starting in early August, that cemented their exclusion from baseball’s post-season tournament for the first time since 1994. Following the New York Yankees this season was an act of drudgery.
The season was not without its moments of satisfaction from a personal standpoint. I took my son to his first major league baseball game in August, and then followed suit with my daughter on the next-to-last day in the history of Yankee Stadium. The moments of gratification I felt on those days made the action on the field seem small and irrelevant in comparison. The memories will hold up well.
But days like that don’t come often, so our attention turns quickly back to the field and the drama of the season.
Feeling a smidgen ambitious and boosted by the wild final week of the regular season, which revived my interest in baseball for the first time in a month, I would like to get this blog in high gear for the month of October. My goal is simple in its scope: 1 post per day. Either a quick note on the day’s games, a memory from a post-season past or blogging of a live game. I’m not sure what I’ll come up with, but I’m inspired to let the game become the story again on a daily basis. I’m fortunate that this new energy coincides with the start of the playoffs.
In the past it’s been just the opposite. I would start the season pretty strong, blogging into the 2nd half, and then losing steam by the time I got to the playoffs. We’ll see if this new formula works.
Although today’s game in Chicago is officially part of the regular season, it feels that the post-season has already begun. I’d like to see Chicago win this afternoon to set-up the one-game playoff for the A.L. Central tomorrow night. And then I’d promptly pull for the Twins. The changing face of baseball continues with the Brewers back in the post-season for the first time in nearly 30 years and the emergence of the Tampa Bay Rays. The addition of the Twins to the playoff mix would be another small market entry to balance things out even further.
Of course, I’m rooting hard against the Red Sox, but that’s strictly a result of my fan allegiance. They remain the class of the sport until proven otherwise. They didn’t have the monumental regular season I thought they would, but remain as balanced as any other team in baseball and are still well-positioned to win their 2nd title in a row, and make a legitimate case of stamping themselves as a dynasty with three championships in five seasons.
Other than that, I’m in a passive mode in terms of which teams I’m pulling for. Almost any combination of teams would make for an interesting World Series, with some sounding more marquee than others: Cubs/Red Sox, Dodgers/Red Sox, Dodgers/Angels as opposed to Rays/Brewers, Twins/Cubs or Phillies/Angels. But that latter group could potentially hold just as intriguing a match-up as a pairing of the sport’s “national” teams. We’ll see. I’m hoping it will be fun.
It’s possible this blog has atrophied to the point of absolute irrelevance. As opposed to simply your garden-variety irrelevance. So be it.
While it’s been a busy year since I last posted on this blog, I wake up on the verge of October to find that my interest in baseball remains steadfast. I admit, it waned a bit this season, as I followed an uninspiring and lethargic Yankee team tread water for most of the summer and then collapse in a 6-week stretch of baseball, starting in early August, that cemented their exclusion from baseball’s post-season tournament for the first time since 1994. Following the New York Yankees this season was an act of drudgery.
The season was not without its moments of satisfaction from a personal standpoint. I took my son to his first major league baseball game in August, and then followed suit with my daughter on the next-to-last day in the history of Yankee Stadium. The moments of gratification I felt on those days made the action on the field seem small and irrelevant in comparison. The memories will hold up well.
But days like that don’t come often, so our attention turns quickly back to the field and the drama of the season.
Feeling a smidgen ambitious and boosted by the wild final week of the regular season, which revived my interest in baseball for the first time in a month, I would like to get this blog in high gear for the month of October. My goal is simple in its scope: 1 post per day. Either a quick note on the day’s games, a memory from a post-season past or blogging of a live game. I’m not sure what I’ll come up with, but I’m inspired to let the game become the story again on a daily basis. I’m fortunate that this new energy coincides with the start of the playoffs.
In the past it’s been just the opposite. I would start the season pretty strong, blogging into the 2nd half, and then losing steam by the time I got to the playoffs. We’ll see if this new formula works.
Although today’s game in Chicago is officially part of the regular season, it feels that the post-season has already begun. I’d like to see Chicago win this afternoon to set-up the one-game playoff for the A.L. Central tomorrow night. And then I’d promptly pull for the Twins. The changing face of baseball continues with the Brewers back in the post-season for the first time in nearly 30 years and the emergence of the Tampa Bay Rays. The addition of the Twins to the playoff mix would be another small market entry to balance things out even further.
Of course, I’m rooting hard against the Red Sox, but that’s strictly a result of my fan allegiance. They remain the class of the sport until proven otherwise. They didn’t have the monumental regular season I thought they would, but remain as balanced as any other team in baseball and are still well-positioned to win their 2nd title in a row, and make a legitimate case of stamping themselves as a dynasty with three championships in five seasons.
Other than that, I’m in a passive mode in terms of which teams I’m pulling for. Almost any combination of teams would make for an interesting World Series, with some sounding more marquee than others: Cubs/Red Sox, Dodgers/Red Sox, Dodgers/Angels as opposed to Rays/Brewers, Twins/Cubs or Phillies/Angels. But that latter group could potentially hold just as intriguing a match-up as a pairing of the sport’s “national” teams. We’ll see. I’m hoping it will be fun.
