Say It Ain't So....
The writing was on the wall. I held out hope. A bunch of us did. We all thought there was a miracle that could happen. If everything broke our way perfectly then we would have a chance. It didn't. The game was over before we knew it and we were all left wondering how could this happen to a team with so much talent. Can we just rewind and start over? Please???
This hurts. I think most Jays fans can agree. I want to go on a rant about who is to blame and what I think about certain players but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Not yet. It’s too soon. The emotions are way to raw. Even though we made it back to the ALCS for the second year in a row, I’m left wanting more. That’s what baseball does to you. All season long you can sit back and say “It’s early, there’s always tomorrow.” Well, finally; there is no tomorrow. It’s done.
Baseball is a funny sport. It takes place for the most part over 6 months. 5-6 games a week. It really gets in your system. You can even take a break from it for a week and hopefully not much changes. It’s more of a marathon. Have a bad week or even month and you can make it up. Do it in any other sport and your season might be over. What sets baseball apart is how it does that. The NBA fans know for the most part if their team doesn’t have one of the top 5 players in the league on their team; they aren’t winning the title. In the NFL; you can’t get too attached to too many players on your team because it’s a meat grinder. Players get chewed up and spit out and released unless they are one of the truly great players and then they stick around for a few years. The NHL is close. Very close….but it’s not 162 games. Think about that. That’s a whole lot of games.
I just need time to reflect on this entire season…I was always the guy saying: “Don’t worry, they’ll be fine,” even when I wasn’t 100% sure; but in the mess of social media and texting someone had to be the voice of reason within groups to try and get everyone to relax. Problem was as the season went on; I started to have doubts. Big ones. I saw them get 2 hit by the Tampa Bay Rays; and then get dominated by the Orioles two weeks apart and right as the season was winding down. Did I lose hope…ya a little bit. The only thing I could hold on to was the thought that if they made the wild card they could do some damage; which they did. Just ask Texas.
The saying goes: Good pitching beats good hitting every day. And you know what? In this series it did. For both teams. Cleveland just got the timely hits when they needed to and that was the difference. There were what; 20 runs scored in 5 games. That’s just phenomenal work by the both pitching staffs. I can accept a loss when we’re out played but this series it never felt that way. It always felt we were one big clutch hit from getting back in it. That hit just never came. No matter how much we willed it to happen or begged or even prayed. It just never came. It happens; I get that. It's just that no matter what the odds were with us being down 3 games to none and then 3 games to 1...I was hoping for a miracle. Just wanted something big to happen. To see how this fan base would rally together and get excited. God knows this city deserves it.
The thing about being a sports fan in Toronto you want more. You always do. Our teams constantly have ripped our hearts out for decades. So now that 2 of the 3 are really good while the other is on it’s way in the right direction; we don’t expect to win…we’re starting to demand it. That part scares me. I don’t like it. I use sports just to get away from everything. To hang out with friends and family and talk about what is going on not only in the game but life in general. It has always had a way of getting people to open up…even when the teams are losing. Now that they’re starting to win; we’re starting to look for someone to blame whenever things don’t go the way we feel they should. Guess what? Losing happens. It happens a lot. There are 30 total teams in the majors…and 26 other fan bases wish they were in the position we as Jays fans find ourselves in tonight.
How I feel right now.
I need to take a break from this just for a week…probably two. I want to relax again, take a breath and watch the World Series and be thankful that this year I got to see a good team get really close to it. It’s going to be a different cast of characters on this squad next year…so I’m looking forward to reflecting on what this team meant over the marathon we call a Major League Baseball season.
