Baseball, Miles, and the non-fan anti-jinx...

As I fly from DC back to LA I am reminded of that strange impulse that I have to write while traveling.  I think its more so on trains, there is something inspiring about them, but planes can be included too.  How efficient they are.  Basically they are just people moving machines, and everyone who boards knows this, (well except for small children I suppose,) but pretty much everyone realizes that they must sit in a small space for a couple of hours, so they might as well make the most of it.   Many writers have been inspired on trains for this reason.  I think the brain secretly likes being utilized in this way.  The body is useless right now, time for thoughts to take over! 

So reflecting on my short trip to DC, there are a few things that come to mind.  First off, I got to see an old childhood friend, my best friend from the 5^th through 7^th grades, Mike Anderson who now lives in Glen Burnie, Maryland.  The last time I saw Mike was in the summer of 1991, I remember it well.  We had been friends in England, when both of our fathers (and his mother too,) were stationed overseas at now defunct Air Force bases, borrowed from the Royal Air Force, by the US military.  We both moved from there in 1990, but I visited Mike in 1991 in Denver, Colorado where he had moved.  It's hard to believe that it’s been more than twenty-one years.  (Feels more like forty-one.)  

In a bizarre twist, the only two times I’ve ever been to an NFL team’s training camp were both in Denver.  Once with Mike in 1991 and then again in 2010, when the Lady Underdog and I saw the rookie Tim Tebow and his innumerable entourage of jersey-wearers, (before he had played a single second in the NFL by the way.)  

Mike met up with the Lady Underdog, Lakisha, and I at the Knicks-Wizards game downtown at the Verizon center.  We had a beer and talked about the old days.  We were transient, growing up (he even more so than I was,) but while I’ve continued that trend into my thirties, seemingly traveling more so than naught in my career, he has settled down in MD, living there for the last ten years.  Hopefully I will get to that place soon.  Imagine it!  The same place… for ten years!  

New and OLD faces on the Knicks bench... 

It was great to hear about Mike’s family and what’s been going on for the past two decades.  And the Knicks looked pretty good against the Wizards, pulling away in the closing minutes.  Even though they may be older than (the proverbial)… dirt!  More on that later.

Anyway, the aforementioned, greatest baseball weekend in Washington DC history ended up being a bust.  Crazy.  But I told Emily and Kevin that I think it's a good Omen.  I don't know a single couple that got married on a night when both of the local home-town teams won series-deciding playoff games, that are still together.  It's just better this way. No need to tempt fate.    

At the wedding reception, there was buzz about the Nationals and their huge early lead against the Cardinals, but no one seemed to care about the Orioles loss to the Yankees.  I think that was mainly because all of the older generation guests at the party were out-of-towners, and all of the younger in-towners had probably only been in town since around ’04 when the Nationals arrived.  The Orioles had already lost by the time we got back to the hotel that night, but the Nationals still had a chance.  They had given up their early lead but still were leading 7-5 in the ninth, so I stopped watching thinking they were going to take it.  The next day Lakisha and I walked all over DC and had a blast.  We even stopped by the ballpark and I just assumed they would be playing there the next day.  I didn’t realize until the following day, that… oops, they had, in fact, LOST that game 5 to St. Louis.  What???  That’s why baseball is a great game.  So unpredictable.  And that’s why this post-season has been nothing short of amazing!

Fast forward to tonight, when I ran into my friend Miles, from the Bay area.  My mind flipped back to three weeks ago, when he came into the bar all bummed out.  “Looks like the Giants are out of it.  They lost the first two at home.”  He looked so sad.  Instinctively I wanted to cheer him up, so I said, “Hey, don’t worry, they’ll pull it out!”  “Nah, they have to win three on the road.” he moped.  “Nope,” I said without hesitation,  “They got this Miles, they’ll come back, don’t worry.”   Of course, they then made history, winning three in a row on the road to advance on to the National League Championship Series.  A week later, he had that same look.  Like a true fan, he wears his heart on his sleeve, so I could see the genuine pain in his expression.

“Down three to one,” he lamented, “looks like we’re really done this time.” 

The last game this year had already been played...

I hadn’t watched any of the games, but there was something about how honestly hurt Miles looked, and somehow, I just knew that the Giants were going to come back.  “Nah, they got this brother,” I said solidly, “they’ll win this one in seven.”  Of course, if it was my team I would never be so brashly optimistic.  When you’re not emotionally invested you have the luxury of irrational confidence.  For some reason, when it is your team, and you really care about the outcome, you almost have to protect yourself by assuming the worst.  You cannot take that leap, because if you do, you’ll blame yourself for jinxing the team!  So weird right?  We have nothing to do with the outcomes whatsoever anyway.  It’s illogical to think that we do, but that doesn’t stop us does it?  Ahhh, sports fans.  We have issues.

Anyway, so tonight Miles came into the bar looking very happy, a huge smile on his face.  “You called it!”  he said giving me a big hug.  “You said it, both times!  Amazing right?  We’re going back to the World Series!”

Obviously, I can’t take any credit for San Francisco’s second historic turnaround.  No sane person would think that way, but maybe that’s part of the fun of being a sports fan in general.  We are connected to the games, and we care about the outcomes, but we are literally helpless to affect them one way or the other.  So it stands to reason that because of the absence of any real control, superstitions eventually crept in and became a staple in sports-fandom.  That’s why countless fans throughout history have blamed themselves for losses, for years, because their team lost, when they forgot to wear their “lucky hat/shirt/socks/kimono.  You name it, the true sports fan can use it, to blame themselves for any loss.  

“I jinxed em!  They were winning until I TURNED ON THE TV!” 

Rational people say that’s ridiculous.  And they’re right.

But we have a World Series coming up.  It's Detroit vs San Francisco, and anything can happen, so all you true fans better get out your old lucky rally caps, that have never been washed of course.  Dust off those lucky shoes or stretch into that lucky sweatshirt, because if your team is going to win this thing you better show some consistency!    

But seriously, I think we should all just act like Miles, and have some fun during these games.  Because we’re all playing with house money at this point right?  Gotta enjoy it while it lasts. 

Baseball is a beautiful game.  And so is life. 

Thanks for reading.

Underdogs OUT!

One Night in DC...

So the aforementioned one-game playoff between the Orioles and the Rangers actually did come to fruition last week.  Baseball tried actively to destroy the marriage of Catia and Alex!  I honestly never thought it would do such a thing. 

I happened to be in Vegas that night (a story for another day) and didn’t really watch, but at one point, while walking the strip I caught a glimpse of Baltimore players on TV smiling and giving interviews, so I figured somewhere in New York, Catia was being let down gently.  That same night, that complete debacle of an ending happened between Atlanta and St Louis, when the incredibly inept and inane infield-fly-rule finally reared its long-standing ugly head on a national stage, and ruined a baseball game.  It was bound to happen eventually.  But who cares about that?  That’s just scenery.   

In the game that really mattered, Alex’s Orioles took down Catia’s Rangers.  I was really only slightly worried, but I needed to test the waters, so I texted Alex, “It’s not so bad… she can just be an Orioles fan for a while.”  Y’know marriage is a two-way street after all.  He got me back, “Indeed.  She’s still in mourning, but insists she’ll be good to go by tomorrow.”

I love it.  Even among the true fans, love still conquers all.  It’s very good to know that this marriage is safe!

Speaking of which, I’m in Washington DC this weekend with the Lady Underdog, for a wedding.  Lakisha’s best friend from high school is tying the knot so we flew in from LA.  We came into town last night just as the Nationals were pulling off a dramatic ninth inning win against St Louis, forcing a winner-take-all game five tonight.  Then later in the night, after we saw the Knicks play the Wizards (more on that later,) the Baltimore Orioles won in extra innings against the Yankees.

Setting up a… you guessed it, winner-take-all game five for the Orioles and Yankees tonight in New York.  And incidentally, in addition to the obvious David vs Goliath appeal, the Orioles and the Yankees split 18 games this season and they are 2-2 in this series, so this is basically the rubber match for a best-of-25-game series.  Incredible.  It's going right down to the wire seemingly even to the most minute detail.  And of course, the Nationals have never been in a position like this.  

So let’s examine.  Everyone in this town is either an Orioles fan or a Nationals fan, (and anyone who is a Nationals fan probably used to be an Orioles fan, (back before the team brought Major League baseball back here from Montreal in 2005.)  And even then, the Nationals have been a complete after-thought until recently.  So basically the Orioles are playing in their most important game in 15 years, and Washington is hosting their most important baseball game in 75 years, on the same night.  I would guess that when Emily and Kevin planned this wedding, they didn’t realize that it would be taking place on DC’s single most important baseball night, of all time. What a night to be in Washington!   

Both games will take place at the exact same time as this wedding and reception.  As an outsider, it will be fun to take a look around the room at various times to see who is checking their phones, who is half listening to conversations, who is sweating, or who is smiling.  Depending on the updates and outcomes, all of these are possible.  We will only be a short distance from Nationals Park up near the National Mall, so maybe we’ll even hear the roars of the crowd.  Amazing.  And all of this is just the backdrop to the best day of Emily and Kevin’s lives, as she walks to him down that aisle.

Well, I don’t think they have anything to worry about.  I mean, if Catia and Alex’s marriage can survive baseball’s second ever one-game playoff, then there is hope for us all.
Let's go O's!!!  

Underdogs Out! 

The Baseball Playoffs... and the OjedaBergs

Last time on the Underdogs, while I was filling everybody in on my trip to the Rose Bowl and waxing on the sports notions of this town, Los Angeles, I was a little bit premature in my dismissal of the Dodgers and the Angels from the post-season.  The Angels are just out of the running recently, but the Dodgers, even though they are ten games worse than their down-the-interstate compadres, still have a slim chance at sneaking in to the playoffs, if they win out.  So there is still is some hope for more October baseball in LA, my mistake.  I had completely forgotten about the Major League's brand new playoff format.  I know what you’re thinking  “What?... Change in baseball?”  Yes.  History is happening  

It’s a whole new world for the Major Leagues. The Wild Card teams from each league actually have to earn their playoff spot now because of this new format.  Two non-division winners will get in this year and they will play a single game to… um… I guess, decide who the actual wild-card team is.  A one-game playoff in baseball!  Crazy.

The Rangers have been miraculous the last two years.

So they basically just added a play-in game, while the division winners get a night off.  I’m not sure if I love it or hate it.  Where would purists come down on this?  Ah, whatever.  I love it.  More drama!  And it seems to have worked for the Major Leagues as more games were relevant down the stretch.  So here we are in the thick of it, and the question at this point isn't, "who's getting in", but rather "who will have to play in that pesky one-game-win-or-go-home matchup."  Which we all know is an absolutely terrifying proposition for a baseball team.    

And as you would expect, the consequences of how these situations play out will undoubtedly affect many things.  Ticket sales, franchise worth, historical significance, player salary leverage, manager and front office clout, and of course, the all-important fan bragging rights.

But could we be adding to this list, an outstanding marriage as well?

A brilliant couple.  And two huge baseball fans.

Previously mentioned here at the Underdogs, have been the exploits of my friends Catia Ojeda and Alex Goldberg (affectionately known as the Ojedabergs) who are both huge baseball fans.  We have lived vicariously through Catia these past two years while her Rangers have made amazing runs to the World Series, last year losing in a devistating seventh game.  Alex has been pulling for them too during this time (naturally, because that’s what you do in a marriage… when your team is out of it, that is.)  But this year is shaping up much differently, because for the first time in fifteen years the Baltimore Orioles are going to be in the playoffs as well!

And as you might have guessed, Alex is a die-hard Orioles fan.  So for the first time ever, Alex and Catia’s relationship is going to be tested, in a rather unique way. 

It has been well documented that this wonderful couple's first (and by some accounts only) real fight was baseball related.  We all know the tale.  It was a magical night in Boston at baseball’s greatest park.  It’s the Red Sox against the Rangers; they have amazing seats just above the dugout, and Catia is obviously decked out in blue.  She is obstinate against the Red Sox faithful.  She’s serious.  Alex is a Ranger fan for the evening as well of course, but then late in the game something changes.  It’s the top of the seventh and the Boston pitcher has a perfect game going.

Figuring that this is only a regular-season game, one of 162, and that there have only been 23 perfect games in baseball’s immense history, Alex, perhaps swayed by the crowd or his deep love for baseball, starts to root for the perfect game.  You know, like a baseball purist would.  A fan of the game.  The notion of history right there to be witnessed.  She’d understand that right?  Well.  As it turns out… no. 

She considered it the deepest form of betrayal, and still does to this day.  It’s amazing that in the three years that I’ve known her, whenever this story comes up, she truly becomes angry once again.  That’s passion.  That’s a true, real fan.  No matter what happens, you don’t abandon your team.  So when a Ranger batter at Fenway that night, finally broke up the perfect game with a single up the middle, in an otherwise silent stadium, she bolted up out of her seat and yelled joyously “YESSSSS!”  She was defiant.  Uncompromising.  Elated.    

Baltimore has won 92 games, with an 9 run differential.
That is simply unbelievable.    

Simultaneously of course, Alex's priority was no longer their argument, but instead it immediately switched to the task of making sure they made it back to their hotel safely that night.  That's baseball baby! 

So anyway, here it is, 2012.  And if the Oakland A’s win their last two games, there could be a one-game playoff between the Texas Rangers and the Baltimore Orioles.

Would the baseball gods do this?  Would they be willing to potentially sacrifice such a beautiful union of souls?

Of course, if this doesn’t happen, it is possible that their two teams could meet later in the AL playoffs in a seven game series, but if it came down to just one game.  For all the marbles.  That intense pressure.  That extraordinary die-hard fan adrenalin.  Do we have any idea what might happen? 

As always, we must just accept what is.  If it is meant to be it will be.  But if it happens... don’t think I won’t be a little nervous that night.   

Thanks for Reading,

Underdogs out.