It was a private ceremony without any witnesses. In the approaching twilight of October’s first day, the annual ritual was carried out with the solemn resolve that the MLB season had concluded in much the same manner as recent seasons.
As an ardent and all too often suffering fan of the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates, my rooting interests are annually observed with placards of both teams adorning our backyard patio. Each season, on opening day, the signs are summoned from their winter resting place and hung with care as testimony to the annual hope for a successful season.
Once the season concludes for the Beantown and the Steel City squads, their tributes are removed and once again placed in storage with care and ‘wait until next year’ hopes, keeping them anticipative through winter’s long chill.
Long ago, Little League Baseball CEO Dr. Creighton Hale and I shared a profound rooting interest for the Red Sox. We often remarked to each other that Opening Day was the best day of the year for baseball fans. We shared a few books that expressed our optimism that eventually led to disappointment until that wonderful year of 2004 when the ‘curse of the Bambino’ was finally put to bed with the team’s first World Championship since 1918, breaking an 86-year drought.
But those glorious accomplishments seem a bit like ancient history. The Sox finished the season with the same 78-84 record as last season, their second consecutive last-place finish in the American League East and third in the last four seasons. During that stretch, the team compiled a losing record of 272-274.
Although the Pirates showed some marked improvement this year, finishing 14 games better than last season, their 76-86 record was two games worse than Boston’s. The team did escape the basement of the National League Central, but their four-year record of 218-328 has Bucco fans still talking about their 1979 ‘We are Family’ World Series victory.
While the NFL was stealing the spotlight on October’s first Sunday, I spent the afternoon, clicker in hand, keeping tabs on baseball’s final games. Repeatedly switching channels to view the Astros and Rangers’ chase for the AL West title, the Braves’ pursuit of the single-season home run record, and the nostalgic finales of the Red Sox and Pirates left me immersed in my life-long love for the game.
Both my teams won the season’s 162nd game, meaningless victories in the grand scheme of things, but like ending a good meal with a tasty dessert, it helped ease the ‘finality’ of once again putting those signs away well short of any post-season glory.
Baseball announcers often cite their home team fans as the ‘best in baseball’, an accolade completely unable to be proven. But the Pirates annually close out their home season in a way that becomes totally memorable for their loyal following. Fans in attendance are randomly selected to come onto the field at the conclusion of the game and receive ‘the shirt off the backs’ of Pirates players.
Each player met the fan to receive their jersey and signed the jersey before presenting it to the fan. I have been there to witness this in prior seasons, but watching it on TV made it even more impressive. These weren’t just ‘here it is and flee moments.’ The players lingered on the field, talking, and taking pictures with fans, seemingly enjoying the moment and not anxious to leave the field.
Elsewhere around the league, the curtain coming down was far less pleasurable. Three managers lost their jobs: the Mets’ Buck Showalter, the Giants’ Gabe Kapler, and the Angels’ Phil Nevin (with more likely to follow). Fans of the big-spending Yankees, Mets, and Padres experienced seasons they would just as soon forget. The proud St. Louis Cardinals limped home in last place with a record of 71-91, their worst mark since 1990.
As this week’s League Divisional Series got underway, four of those playoff qualifying teams have already packed their gear and gone home. The remaining eight have their sights set on the chill of November baseball when the World Series champion will be crowned.
The baseball season has often been referred to as a marathon, not a sprint, but for those who follow the game with daily fan interest, there is always next year! The countdown to pitchers and catchers reporting for Spring Training next February has already begun.
