Depths of a Season – Matt Waters

” The river has many depths…. Let it wash over you.”

 An insightful tagline from a great movie [Mystic River] actually holds some credence for baseball fans nation wide. For if you substitute the word “season” in place of river in this particular quote, one gets a perfect summation for what is the grind of a 162 game marathon. Baseball needs to be watched as it is played, with a cool head and balanced intensity. In other more precise words, baseball can’t be viewed in a football frame of mind. After one game in the NFL season, a fan could get a decent idea about where his team is heading. After one game in the Major League epic, a fan could get a decent idea about well…. Absolutely nothing.  In baseball, judgment passes as slowly and surely as erosion. A team can not be seen in proper light until at least June, and even than some still surprise for all the right [2004 Astros] or wrong [1995 Angels] reasons. And there in lies a certain conundrum for the viewing audience in April. There aren’t any stats to hide this early in the campaign, so if a pitcher has had two rough games, he’s having a rough year [see, Rivera, Mariano] or if a team loses 8 out 12, they are in dire straits. The fact is if any contending team lost 8 out of 12 games in July, it would certainly be a cause for concern, but not alarm. However, in such a results based media world that exists in this current climate, early April indications often border on mass hysteria. And there is no better example of undeniable panic seeping into a fan base’s collective minds than in New York City, home of the Yankees, and their fans.

 In a somewhat disappointing twist, Yankee fans have gone from being knowledgeable, passionate, and above all, sensible baseball followers to a panicky group twitching with worry and angst. The translation: they’ve become reflections of their owner. The worst part about this circumstance is that most of these members of the Yankee nation believe this behavior is completely acceptable. After all, as an unwise man once said, ” Winning comes only second to breathing.” I guess eating and drinking are riding on the bench in George Steinbrenner’s sick world. The point is, just because the players are getting paid a whole lot of money to do their jobs, jobs I might add that the average fan could never do, does not give any person the right to expect complete perfection. An all-encompassing memo has arrived to Yankee fans everywhere: YOU ARE NOT ENTITLED TO WINNING. This ludicrous idea actually takes the joy out of victory it self, as it has rendered the regular season meaningless and wins attained during it a self-sustaining function of the big pinstriped machine.

 The loathsome newspapers jump all over the entitlement mentality that exists within the fan base, trumpeting out headlines worthy of a tabloid… or the New York Post. Delightful gems such as:

200 MILLION FOR NOTHING

Don’t think that doesn’t really get Joe the Plumber annoyed about ” his” Yankees. Thanks to the team’s pay roll, expectations, players, and above all its lovable maniacal owner, the fun is threatening to be expunged from every Yankee game this season. Even the most clear minded Yankee believer is beginning to have difficulty keeping their patience with a team that is ” supposed” to win. Where’s the fun in that? Wins aren’t simply gained as a mere formality; they are earned through home runs, hits, and great plays.

  However, the coup de grace of this new Yankee credo has reached full circle this April. Early season losses are being treated as if they are game 7 defeats. Columnists are writing how this type of play is ” unacceptable”, as if the team were making a valiant attempt to lose. This team isn’t ” supposed” to lose to the Devil Rays. What happened to the regular season being a ” formality?” Unable to grasp the sensible logic that this 200 Million dollar team is in an early season slump, the system broke down. Games in April have turned into nail biting affairs, wins are celebrated with a smile through the day, and losses are mourned and cursed until one’s face turns blue. Over reaction is in. Sanity has left Yankee land, leaving behind only questions, and a sneer from Steinbrenner.

   And yet, few take into account that April means absolutely nothing. If the Yanks go 2-2 over their next four games, which in it of it self seems unreasonable, they will be 8-11. And if that record seems familiar… well it is. The Yankees started out 8-11 last season and won 101 games. So let’s, in a group effort, relax, flip on the game, and have some fun watching Baseball. Instead of submerging your self in a sea of hysteria, let the season wash over you, game by game.

P.S.

  Shortly after writing this, the Yankee bull pen shut down the Blue Jays over the final 3 innings, prompting me to declare Tom Gordon just fine and Mike Stanton a solid lefty specialist. Gotta love April….