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Saturday, August 20, 2005
Sympathy or Schadenfreude?
...my viewing of Rear Window last night may have influenced my thought process here...
At this moment, the Royals lead the Athletics 2-1 at the end of four innings. If the Royals can hold on (and there's a long way to go), they can begin to put this prolonged losing streak behind them and try to finish the season strong. If they give up the lead (and there's no reason to believe they won't), they can tie the AL record for consecutive losses (21) and maybe decide that, what the hell, the modern major league record of 23 set by the '61 Phillies is so close that only yella-bellies wouldn't go head and break it.
Which would you rather see?
On the one hand, you know that these guys' lives currently revolve around the fact that they haven't one since I was 24 (my birthday was August 3, and they last won on July 27). They have to talk to family, friends, and each other knowing that the baseball world thinks they're the worst team around, and rightly so. For their emotional and psychological well-being, you want them to get it over with already and notch a victory.
On the other hand...wouldn't it be awesome if they lost, like, 25 in a row? It would be unprecedented, and you and I would have lived through it. We could tell our children, "Yep, I remember the '05 Royals and the myriad ways they found to lose during the Month of Morbidity. It was a gruesome thing to watch." I missed the Cleveland Spiders of 1899, but by God, I saw those Royals suck it up something fierce.
So, I guess it won't be all bad either way. It just takes some distance to realize how cool it is that the Royals are so wretched.
At this moment, the Royals lead the Athletics 2-1 at the end of four innings. If the Royals can hold on (and there's a long way to go), they can begin to put this prolonged losing streak behind them and try to finish the season strong. If they give up the lead (and there's no reason to believe they won't), they can tie the AL record for consecutive losses (21) and maybe decide that, what the hell, the modern major league record of 23 set by the '61 Phillies is so close that only yella-bellies wouldn't go head and break it.
Which would you rather see?
On the one hand, you know that these guys' lives currently revolve around the fact that they haven't one since I was 24 (my birthday was August 3, and they last won on July 27). They have to talk to family, friends, and each other knowing that the baseball world thinks they're the worst team around, and rightly so. For their emotional and psychological well-being, you want them to get it over with already and notch a victory.
On the other hand...wouldn't it be awesome if they lost, like, 25 in a row? It would be unprecedented, and you and I would have lived through it. We could tell our children, "Yep, I remember the '05 Royals and the myriad ways they found to lose during the Month of Morbidity. It was a gruesome thing to watch." I missed the Cleveland Spiders of 1899, but by God, I saw those Royals suck it up something fierce.
So, I guess it won't be all bad either way. It just takes some distance to realize how cool it is that the Royals are so wretched.
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