personal lessons of baseball
I have been asked by a couple of people how could I give up on the Phillies so early this season. I keep on hearing, "It is still early. There are lots of games to go. Anything can still happen." Every baseball fan has these lines down cold. I hear them like I am pulling a string out of the back of a baseball fan talking doll.
I would like everyone to know that being a fan is a matter of faith to me. As in all matters of faith, I did not decide to give up hope. I just realized that I gave up hope after it happened. I was not a choice. I am just relaying the facts to my readers.
Right now the Phillies are 17 and 22. They are 6 games out of first place. The other four teams in the NL East are all over .500. The NL East is the toughtest divison in baseball this year. I do not expect the Phillies to get any help by the other teams losing. Not just one team would have to fall apart, but four teams would have to fall apart. I would feel better if the Phillies were 6 games back and in second place.
Why has my faith gone out? I have been a Phillies all my life. In that time I have seen great Phillies teams and bad Phillies teams. I have seen good teams fail and bad teams have career years. I have seen it all. You must understand that the Phillies are the losingest sports franchise in American professional sports history. (No you cannot count the Washington Generals) The worst thing is seeing a team that should be winning lose. It is hard to watch a team not know know where their runs will come from. It kills me to watch good hitters swing at bad pitches.
Now that I have given up faith on the Phillies only good things can happen. If they come back in the race it is all upside. If they cannot find their way to the playoffs I can still enjoy watching their games. I just expect nothing from the team. I am not a fareweather fan. I will still be rooting for them. I will go to see the Phillies when they come to San Francisco and Oakland. I will watch them every time my TiVo records the game. I just have no faith left that they can make anything out of the season.
I would like everyone to know that being a fan is a matter of faith to me. As in all matters of faith, I did not decide to give up hope. I just realized that I gave up hope after it happened. I was not a choice. I am just relaying the facts to my readers.
Right now the Phillies are 17 and 22. They are 6 games out of first place. The other four teams in the NL East are all over .500. The NL East is the toughtest divison in baseball this year. I do not expect the Phillies to get any help by the other teams losing. Not just one team would have to fall apart, but four teams would have to fall apart. I would feel better if the Phillies were 6 games back and in second place.
Why has my faith gone out? I have been a Phillies all my life. In that time I have seen great Phillies teams and bad Phillies teams. I have seen good teams fail and bad teams have career years. I have seen it all. You must understand that the Phillies are the losingest sports franchise in American professional sports history. (No you cannot count the Washington Generals) The worst thing is seeing a team that should be winning lose. It is hard to watch a team not know know where their runs will come from. It kills me to watch good hitters swing at bad pitches.
Now that I have given up faith on the Phillies only good things can happen. If they come back in the race it is all upside. If they cannot find their way to the playoffs I can still enjoy watching their games. I just expect nothing from the team. I am not a fareweather fan. I will still be rooting for them. I will go to see the Phillies when they come to San Francisco and Oakland. I will watch them every time my TiVo records the game. I just have no faith left that they can make anything out of the season.
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