I Cursed My Favorite Team
Today is September 18. There are 12 days left in the Major League Baseeball Season. The Mariners, my favorite team, have 11 games left. They don’t play on the 20th, but other than that, they play every day for the rest of the season.
There’s a saying that unless you are thhe champion, your season ends with a loss. I’m not sure who says it, but I’ve heard it said.
It’s not true.
In fact, the Mariners will have a winning season this year. A Major League Baseball season has 162 games. (Yes, it’s as long as you always felt it was.) The Mariners have 83 wins and 68 losses. If they lose the rest of their games, the worst they will finish is 83 – 79. More likely they will finish somewhere around 89 – 73. They might even win their final game on September 30 against the Texas Rangers. But, unless something drastic happens, they will miss the playoffs.
They are currently seven and a half games out of the second Wildcard spot. And Tampa Bay is a game and a half in front of them.
It’s tempting to say that the Mariners season is a disappointment. After all, it’s been 17 years since the last time the Seattle Mariners made it to the playoffs. And they have never been to the World Series. The odds of them making it this year are not looking good.
The Mariners last went to the playoffs in 2001. That was the same year they set a record by winning 116 games. I was living in Seattle at the time. I told my friends that I would rather the Mariners set the single season wins record than win the World Series. My reasoning was that the single season wins record lasts for decades, the World Series champion changes every year.
I’m afraid I may have jinxed them. I’m sorry.
So, 2018 will be another fruitless season, but I’m not disappointed. I’ve listened to nearly every game. I’ve had a chance to watch a few of them online. The reason I’m not disappointed, is that we are less than two weeks away from the end of the season and the Mariners games still matter. While they odds are long, the fact is that the Mariners are playing meaningful games in September. That doesn’t happen every year.
So, I’ve felt guilty for 17 years about cursing my team, I am excited to still be caring about baseball games at the end of the season.
The end
Rodney M Bliss is an author, columnist and IT Consultant. His blog updates every weekday. He lives in Pleasant Grove, UT with his lovely wife, thirteen children and grandchildren.
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