I'm Going to Need a New Hobby

This post is going to be about sports (my apologies in advance). Mere seconds ago, my New York Yankees were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time in 13 years. In reality, "13 years" is a misnomer: it's been 15 years (since 1993) since the Yankees were excluded from the postseason. Nobody made the playoffs in 1994, the strike-shortened season, and the season that I started watching baseball.

The 1998 Yankees were, statistically speaking, the second- or third-best team in the history of the sport. They won 125 games on dominant pitching (3 of their 5 starters had at least 125 ERA+) and solid and patient hitting (8 of the 9 players in their lineup had 100+ OPS+, and Bernie Williams had a ridiculous 160 OPS+).

On the other hand, the 2000 Yankees were, statistically speaking, the weakest or second-weakest World Series champion in the modern (i.e., steroids) era. Their hitting and pitching were average, and they won a pedestrian 87 games in the regular season. Both the 1998 and 2000 teams won the World Series, even though teams that fell somewhere in between these two (e.g., 2001, 2003, 2004) fell short. But at least each of these teams made the playoffs.

What to make of this, especially in the context of this year's Yankees squad not making the playoffs? The best and worst about baseball is that the sport is a giant crapshoot. As easily as it lends itself to miracles, it can lend itself to heartache. Injuries can happen (to the Yankees this year, lots of them), players can underperform for no apparent reason (the same), and other teams in the division can mature in a heartbeat (ditto). Waiting until mathematical elimination for this year's Yankees team was like waiting for your own execution -- you know it's going to happen for a while, and by the time it's imminent, the only feeling left is frustration. Just get it over with already!

****************************

Needless to say, I've always penciled watching baseball into my schedule well into October, and it's going to take some getting used to this year. A good birthday for me involves good times, good food, and lots of fun -- a GREAT birthday also involves the Yankees still playing baseball. Although it's easy to speak gloom and doom under these circumstances, I'm not going to fret. No, instead I'm going to need some ways to divert myself. Here are some ideas:

First, I'm going to devote lots more time this October to my work. Grad school's been making me very busy lately (busy enough to shorten this post from 2,000 to 1,500 words), and I'd like to finish my second year thesis by the end of, ya know, my second year. Lately I've felt a lot like my senior year of college, which was the busiest time of my life. I took lots of classes, tutored some, and did an honors thesis. I worked like a dog, was rewarded handsomely for it, and experienced the happiest exhaustion a person could imagine. I want to feel that good again, and without baseball it could happen.

Second, I'm going to read more for leisure. Being a sports nut is stressful, especially during the postseason. On the other hand, I find quiet reading to be one of the most relaxing things I do. So, while lots of other people stress themselves into an early coronary this October, I'm going to relax and learn about something I've never bothered to study before. How Zen of me.

Third, my new roommate brought his Wii with him at the start of the lease, and... um, yeah, I'm going to get on that. Mario Kart, here I come!

Fourth, and finally, I am going to divert my attention from games of luck (which I cannot control) to games of skill (which I can). That's right, it's getting to be time for another Atlantic City excursion. This one will be the weekend after my birthday, and will involve at least two hotel rooms, at least one bottle of Silver Patron, and lots and lots of blackjack and debauchery. I'm already looking forward to it, a month ahead of time. Waaaa hooooo!!!

Stay classy out there.