28 ½ Games

A thought hit me this morning as I perused the L.A. Times sports page. I was leafing through the baseball section, checking scores and recaps. My Cards won, good for them… So disappointed the Yanks are back in it… Mark Hendrickson got CRUSHED against the Sox (How do you give up 5 ER in 0 innings? Did they credit him with a few from his last start?) The Royals are 28½ games out…

28 ½ games out??!!

Obviously, I knew K.C. was bad, but I hadn’t really been thinking much about them lately, I guess (Putting me in company with roughly the rest of the planet). But until now, it never really sank into my brain just how bad these cats are doing. Seriously. They’re approximately 1/7^th of a season out. That’s a lotta games. But the worst part for the Royals comes from knowing the outcome is ultimately irrelevant even if they start winning a little. Which they won’t. But let’s just say they did. It still wouldn’t matter. Outside of a historical streak, they’re destined to finish with an embarrassing record either way.

I know many sports fans make fun of baseball’s lack of inherent physical exertion compared to football, basketball, tennis, etc. I’m one of those people, in all honesty. There’s a reason these guys can play double the games of an NHL athlete. You’re not gonna walk off the field bruised and battered as a boxer, or as exhausted as a cyclist. I’ve seen enough shirtless MLB players in locker rooms to know it doesn’t require tiptop physical conditioning. Simply put, it’s not as demanding, on those terms.

But it’s an underrated grind. 162 games is a looonnnnnggggg season. Which will seem even longer if you’re losing 2 outta 3 games. Which is what K.C.’s doing. And it’s probably not gonna change one bit. How do you get up and play, knowing that? How do you find the energy? The life of a writer is tough and unstable, no doubt, but for the most part, I’m confident that 2 out of 3 assignments I turn in won’t get rejected. And even if that was a danger, my failures come on a much private scale. At least the citizens of Kansas City don’t get to tune in and watch me read an email from an editor entitled “What the &#$^ is this junk?” To go through what a guy in a Royals uni is experiencing has to seriously ****. You gotta give them a little props for just keeping their heads up. Unless, of course, they aren’t, which I would completely understand.

On the plus side, only 68 games left to go.