On the eve of this most sacred of baseball holidays, I think it's a good time to make some baseball resolutions.
I talked about my first resolution earlier. Looking back over the last few years (and especially last year), it occurs to me that I may have been a little hard on Ryan Franklin. Therefore, this year, I resolve to give him a clean slate to start the year, and also to give him the benefit of the doubt when things are going badly for him (and I'm not even going to make a snide remark about how things are bound to go badly for him sooner or later). In fact, I'll go ahead and apply this one to the whole bullpen. There's nothing like a fresh start.
My second resolution has to do with my baseball-watching habits. I'm not a fair-weather fan by any means, and I don't abandon the team during the hard times, but I gotta tell you, sometimes it's just too painful to watch them lose and I might turn off the tv and go to bed (and cry myself to sleep) if it's really, really bad. This year, I resolve to stay up even if it's a massacre. Even if it's a bloodbath. Even if I have to bury my face in a pillow and scream. (Barring real life conflicts, that is.)
Finally, in an attempt to reduce my own blood pressure and become more zen (or something), I resolve to accept that I have no control over the lineup or pitching changes or who starts in left field or whether the batter sacrifices or how deep the outfielders play or when the shift is used or how big the lead from first is or intentional walks or errors or wild pitches or.... whatever. I will take a deep breath and count to ten and everything will be okay.
Much like New Year's resolutions, these are probably not going to last long (especially that last one). But it's the thought that counts, right?
In unrelated news, I was watching ESPN this morning (shhhh) and wanted to share some highlights from the segment reviewing the parity in baseball over the last decade. Some guy I didn't recognize made the following notable observations (after reminding us that even though the BoSox and Yanks might feel like dynasties, they are, in fact, not).
"You could make a watery argument for the Cardinals with their 6 post-season appearances...."
Watery. Well, at least he was kind enough to mention us.
"Worst team this decade: the Kansas City Royals, unless you're actually counting the Pirates as a major league team."
Ouch.
Wow, have I missed baseball coverage. I never even considered turning this off.
