It's a sports blog now: Home Run

Honestly, it’s not rational at all, and maybe a little bit pathetic, but sports moments can mean so much.

I moved to western Washington for good in 1989 but was never really a Mariners fan. I maintained my loyalty to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and I was busy with other things. Also, the Mariners were terrible, and it seemed like a fool’s errand to invest anything into an awful team, especially after having endured a decade of futility and heartbreak from the Pirates.
In 1995 when the Mariners went on a crazy run and made it into the playoffs, I was sickened by all the fair-weather fans and their complete misunderstanding of the game of baseball. At the time, one of the Seahawks (I think it was their punter) denounced them all as “frontrunners.” I remember he said something like “every city has them.” I did not join the fan frenzy either. I’m not proud of that teenager-like, oppositional-defiant stance, but it was what it was.
Then in 2000, for whatever reason, I decided to try to get into it. The Mariners made it into the American League Championship Series – playing for the pennant against the New York Yankees – and I was determined to go to all three games in Seattle. In those days, they made you go in-person to buy tickets. I stood in line for hours at the Ticket Master on Broadway. There was no guarantee of getting tickets. People got turned away, or gave up hope, or ran out of time and left the line. But I made it.
After four games, the Mariners were down three games to one. It looked bleak. In game five, the Mariners took an early 1-0 lead, but the Yankees scored two runs in the fourth inning and were still ahead 2-1 into the fifth inning. One more loss and the Mariners would be done for another year.
Then it happened. In the bottom of the fifth, the Mariners got two men on. Alex Rodriguez came through with a two-run single that put the Mariners ahead, 3-2.
It was that exact moment that I became a Mariners fan. Why? This is what I was talking about at the beginning. It doesn’t make any sense. But those two RBIs by A-Rod meant maybe the Mariners could really pull this off, maybe they could beat the Yankees (the Yankees!) and win the pennant. Maybe they could even go on to win the World Series. Maybe there is justice in the world!? Maybe everything will really work out for the best! Maybe we will all live in peace and harmony, give the world a Coke and make war no more!
I don’t know why I – or anyone else invests so much meaning in these moments. Like I said, it makes no sense. I was happy but millions of people in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut tri-state area were probably despondent, which also makes no sense. But we do pile a lot onto those moments, don’t we? We get all caught up in this stuff. It’s fun, though. And there is nothing wrong with that.
(Photo from 2014, last day of the season, when the Mariners' playoff hopes that year died.)

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