Baseball / Slant | Doctor, Is Optimism A Normal Symptom for A Fan of A Losing Team?

Opening Day is a great experience regardless of your team affiliation. The winter months are long and arduous, especially the period in between the Winter Meetings in December and the time which pitchers and catchers report to camp in February. These months are made even longer if you are a fan of a team who didn’t make the playoffs, made longer once again if you realized your team was officially out of the race (barring a miracle) by June 1st. But if you have ever experienced Opening Day, think back to those feelings you experienced. Think about the site of seeing the immaculate grass on the field, the smells of the ballpark from the smell of summer coming to hot dogs, hearing the perfect crack of a bat or the roar of the stadium for the home teams’ first run scored, the feel of a some snot-faced kid kicking the back of your seat as you hope the parents leave him alone for a few minutes or the bitter taste of men’s restroom left in your mouth just from entering it (ok, maybe not the last one.) Baseball signifies that spring is truly here and summer is not far away, that there is a 162 game journey you are soon to embark on that is about the greatest emotional rollercoaster of any sporting season just given the time it lasts and the number of games played. This is why I implore you to take that initial joy felt on Opening Day and to hold on to that feeling as long as possible, the season is long so enjoy it whether you are a Red Sox fan hoping to see new import Daisuke Matsuzaka lead your team to a division title over The Evil Empire or a Royals fan hoping that given the ownerships new willingness to spend cash (the '50 Million Dollar Man' Gil Meche) is leading them to develop a cloning machine to clone 12 or 13 of top prospect Alex Gordon. Opening Day encapsulates everything that we love as baseball fans, so don’t forget it after game one.

Reds Opening Day is like no other in my bias opinion. Will the biggest stars be in attendance? Probably not. Is every Japanese media person in the known world going to be in attendance? Considering the last Asian player the Reds had was Sun-Woo Kim, who is from South Korea and not Japan, and even his mother is somewhat apathetic over his talent… again, it’s doubtful. But even if its just for one day, on that day people in Cincinnati act like it is the baseball town it once was. You will see people who will never wear their Reds cap wearing it with pride on that Monday afternoon, only to know that it will soon be collecting cobwebs for another a year. Call them fair weather fans or fans just tired of lies from previous ownership groups and losing efforts that were truly painful to suffer through is your call, either way they forget about it for at least one day and that’s what I am encouraging all fans to do for as long as they can do it. Buy the lie, forget your team’s Vegas odds or the simple cold hard facts and enjoy this baseball season like a fan of any contending team would. Just ask yourself if you would rather suffer through 162 games or 100 games of knowing the truth about your team and it’s chances for contention. You never know, the stars and the moon may align and your no-shot team is in the thick of it, while you were there to enjoy all of it.

When it’s a perfect opening day, the lie is so much easier to accept. You know you are drinking the funky Kool-Aid, but the feelings it gives you are so right that you are 100% willing to drink up and never look back (that is until game two). Cincinnati takes an unofficial holiday to open the season, many will skip work and school to head downtown to catch the parade (which might sound a bit hokey to those from larger metropolitan areas, but trust me that it works well in Cincy) and many will skip for the purpose of catching the television broadcast. There was a lot to be excited about for the first time in a long time for Reds fans. Many believe that this team can compete, granted other fans do not believe this and certainly not the national media, but hope prevails with some who could just be hopeful as an anti-suicide measure given how depressed they should have been in recent years. Either way, who can blame them for seeking the light at the end of the tunnel? The Reds new ownership group was able to make changes of impact with having a full season under their belts as they locked up potentially the NL’s best returning #1 and #2 combo in Aaron “I Can’t Believe I Didn’t Get One Damn Cy Young Vote” and Bronson “Boston Who?” Arroyo. Harang’s contract was phenomenal given his positive sloping stats over the past few years, giving the Reds having a legitimate strikeout arm. And some questioned the Arroyo contract extension given the time the Reds have left on his current deal, but it was an obvious statement to the fans about the ownerships’ commitment to contending. Marty Brenneman had son Tom Brenneman brought in to be the Reds double play team on the mic. They are under new management with General Manager Wayne Krivsky entering his second season, who has had his share of blunders (notably the Kearns/Lopez deal to the Nationals) but has had his success as well (the acquisition of Bronson Arroyo and Brandon Phillips to name a few.) They are sporting new duds, with uniforms harkening back to a more pleasant time for Reds fans of an age to remember better times. The stadium has had a facelift to the horrendous batters eye, which adds to the stadium décor. Hell, the Reds even have a mascot other than the furry odd creature known as Gapper, as shocking as it is, the classic Mr. Red is back in a more obvious nature.

Do I expect anyone other than Reds fans to care about what I mentioned in the previous article? Not really, but I encourage you to find what there is to be optimistic about in regards to your team. Your team will have it’s least bleak outlook early in the season, so find the optimism early. I have been downright depressed regarding how I felt about the Reds for quite some time, especially since what is now infamously dubbed ‘The Trade’ that was made with the Nationals in June. But either the ripe old age of 21 is softening me up from my jaded and cynical ways, or I am just tired of almost loathing the season deep down. Whatever the case may be, I have chugged the special Kool-Aid on my way to feeling strangely optimistic. I kind of hate myself for doing so as it goes against so much of what I have felt about this team in the past and what I statistically know about them and their chances, but strangely enough I do feel a bit better at the same time for going against all forms of logic. I am willing to accept the coach that I have lampooned several times in Jerry Narron by complimenting his ability of being a true player’s coach who will improve team morale and chemistry. Or even feel somewhat happy about the free agent signing of Alex Gonzalez, that a few months ago I was pretty outraged over as I anticipated it being our biggest free agent acquisition (it was), given the superior defense and range I witnessed just yesterday. Wonder boy Josh Hamilton and fellow Rule-5 acquisition Jared Burton have given the Reds increased youth on the roster with actual talent and potential. After fearing for the amount of runs the Reds would score given their depleted talent in the sticks area, a healthier and more focused Adam Dunn came to camp ready to improve (and the results showed on Monday with his two laser shots), which have eased concerns slightly as to that and made me feel much better about my fantasy picks and PECOTA agreement for Dunn. Even the pitching, which as most know the Reds are notorious for having the word terrible followed by pitching more often than not, has notable arms at the top of the rotation and honest to God talent in AAA. And for all the changes and such that I have previously mentioned, I am literally excited about this season and it’s an amazing feeling that I can’t recall having since being a ten year old boy attending the National League Championship Series versus the Braves in 1995 (that we were royally stomped in, but alas the hope was there.)

The point of this article is to not debate the Reds or any other normal bottom feeding team of the game, but to find hope where there hasn't been any for quite some time. And if you are a fan of a winning team, appreciate it as you can enjoy it all season you lucky jerk. The bottom line is this, just give in and let the hope take over as long as you can reasonably do so. For most of us, it could be defined as the pickup for the letdown, but again, having a little bit of joy versus none is a risk worthy to take. I like to believe that baseball brings out the kid in all of us, blind bliss for our team and just being excited to see them take the field. So much can interfere with that enjoyment, from knowing how your team did on an in-depth statistical level, the amount of financial leniency they have to improve their roster (or not) at the deadline, images of terrible play being burned into your retinas and so on. As a kid, I was never apart of one of those famous 0-& Infinity little league teams that are in any Disney movie about underdogs, but with any losing team I still looked forward to hitting the field and giving it my all with my team. What was the point of playing if you hated every minute of it? The same can be said about being a baseball fan, unless you are a fan of torture and in that case, what you do in your private time is your business. That kind of bliss comes with nearly anyone who attends Opening Day, people are almost glazed over with a stupid grin at the start of the game. Luckily, I was able to keep that slaphappy grin from the start of Monday's game to the end of it as the Reds defeated Zambrano and the Cubs. Perhaps I would not be writing this optimistic article if the Reds had a defeat more similar to last years losing effort of 16-7, in fact I know I wouldn't because I recall my response to it. But whether your team won or loss, there are still 161 games, so if they lost consider game two game one and enjoy that strangely enjoyable feeling of optimism, even if it won't last all that long. Find some enjoyment, find some hope, just find your love of the game and enjoy the 2007 baseball season as much as you can.

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Doctor, Is Optimism A Normal Symptom for A Fan of A Losing Team?