Post All-Star break euphoria

I'm learning an awful lot about myself through the baseball season this year if only because it's forcing me to reimagine myself as a ten year old boy living for a game on the radio and the feeling of belonging it gave me, but the feeling was so pure I never would have called it 'belonging,' but rather being. I was a young American that really liked sports and the baseball season symbolized summer, the time away from school, that every kid looked forward to, or at least every kid worth his weight in individuality, and love, a free kid. The Mariners have made it easy to do that this year because they have put on a surprisingly good performance, and I'd argue in sports and art, that nothing is more exciting than being surprised by how good something is, rather than expecting it it to be good, and therefore a let down, even if it is a masterpiece; it's why I think so many people see the 'Mona Lisa,' or a painting like it, and unless they are studying fine art, or are just the biggest aesthetes in the world, are invariably let down by the hype. There was no hype to this season save that crazy feeling at the beginning of every baseball season that offers unbridled hope in April and May due to the lenght of the season, and that it's hard to really count a team out until June, and even then it's a dangerous proposition. Well, the Mariners survived into June and I'm not sure what the fans are expecting now, but the team is hot, and definitely a contender for a wild card spot, no small task given the mediocrity of this club for the last decade or so, and if they weren't in the A.L. West they might even be in the running for the division title, but it's looking like the A's and Angels are just too good, but there's still a lot of baseball left, especially for the contenders like the Mariners are, and in fact this is when the season really comes into focus, with the giddy highs and lows of the first act of the season behind us, and the transition to the second act officially over with the All Star Break, so that the fans can settle in and just enjoy the rest of the season. Sure, there's still time for any team in the Majors to fold, and kind of do a Swan dive, but it really doesn't feel like that's what's happening to the M's. They just played a three game series in Anaheim, that the Angels took 2 out of 3 from, but to call those games would be an incredible understatement, or missing the point entirely, because they were battles.... the first game went 16 innings and actually tired me out, and the second went 12, with the 3rd going to the bottom of the ninth, and both teams sounded like champs. The M's may have lost the series but in some ways they won the war in Anaheim, at least against themselves, because they came out of Southern California showing an incredible amount of heart, and proving that they can compete with the best, even if they aren't quite there yet, but there's still a lot of season to go, and this is when the really good teams come to life, and define how they are remembered, saving an all time great first half, like the M's had in 2001, but let's face it a season like that comes along once a lifetime.

I really get the feeling with this club that I'm watching a memorable movie that is going to get me through the night, and leave room for lots of reflection, even if it's not the best movie of all time. The Mariners are completely living up to the hopes I had for them in the first act of the season, April and May, when they were relatively unknown, and the city had all but forgotten about them, drubbed into thinking they might never have a winner again. Sure, it was hard to tell if they were going to nosedive in June, but they didn't, and I'd argue they look stronger than ever entering the second half, like they know they are in the running for the penant, and feeling confident about their chances, not getting down with a lost, but just going to the park the next day, and making up the loss. I know there will be losing streaks and winning streaks to come, because the season is long, and nothing teaches you that more than really immersing in it, but I think they've hit the part of the 'show' where they are clearly not going to sink like a stone, or if they do, they will have already given me more entertainment than anyone thought they would, but I'm not going to be a naysayer, and remain consistent with most everything I've predicted in these posts, that this is a really good club with a future, at least this year, because free agency has sure changed the picture of long term success, but whether they make a trade in a few days or not, this team is going to be in it until the end, scratching for a playoff spot. I'll admit it's hard to imagine them going to the World Series right now, but that I'm even mentioning that this late in the 3 act structure of the season is really incredible, given how low expectations were, but it's clear these guys really believe in themselves, and the weak spots in their line-up aren't even feeling so weak anymore, but just part of the whole, like a great movie coalesces around cast, however many stars. You can tell just by listening to them on the radio that these guys really believe in themselves, and the way they manhandled the Mets last night after what could've been a 'let down' series after losing a couple of tough games to the Angels, and winning one, but I didn't sense that at all. Rather, they sounded like confident killers that had gone to Anaheim and won three straight, certain of their place among baseball's best, but I guess that's what's meant by losing the battle and winning the war. No, I don't care that the Mets are mediocre because in the words of the skipper, Lloyd McClendon, the Major Leagues are highly competitive and the Mets have won plenty of games themselves in this never ending season, but it didn't even seem like they were on the diamond last night, the sign of a winner.