(First written ca. October, 2005)
2 years into baseball for me, yep, 2 years. And the result of it all? I love baseball. Alot. Like, more than it's cool to love baseball. INTO it. Like; 'oh man, there she is, don't ask her about baseball' into it. I'm not apologizing, I just want to be candid about it. I've become one of THEM now; almost completely obsessed. It keeps me out of trouble, I love it in about 100 different ways, and I don't mind telling anyone how much, either. Yay, baseball. So here's where I'm at with it:
At the end of the 2005 season, which for me was, effectively, the day that the Mets season ended, I was entirely depressed. Not because the Mets hadn't gone all the way, for in fact they had done really well and I was/am all happy with their season, but rather just because there would be no more baseball for me. I went to the last Mets game by myself carrying a sign I'd made; "Thank You Mets." I had a last couple of Heinekens and a bag of peanuts, was there to say goodbye to Mike Piazza and was then utterly unhappy that it was over for the year.
Depression set in. A month or so went by and although my decision to not talk about it, and to try not to think about it anymore was working pretty well, I was still sad. And cranky. I remember being visibly unhappy at the dinner table during Family Night at some point, eyes cast downward, sighing woefully, pushing food around the plate with my fork, and my mother angrily asking "WHAT is wrong with you??" I REALLY missed baseball.
Then came the Hot Stove days. I had no idea what this was, and so when people started saying 'did you hear who the Mets got??' I didn't care and was annoyed to be reminded of my sadness at missing baseball, and so tried to ignore what was happening. It didn't work. The Mets acquisition of our new closing pitcher got me excited in spite of my intent to ignore baseball entirely and keep it out of my mind. After last season, and the horror of Braden Looper, I couldn't possibly help but be thrilled at the prospect of next season with our fancy new closing pitcher (and visually pleasing hottie), Billy Wagner.
Begrudgingly I started keeping tabs on what was happening with the roster changes, and so would read the sports pages for the 1/4 of a page about baseball, and then started going back to www.mets.com (oh, how I had missed that site, seriously), and getting news, and watching highlights from past seasons, and then it hit me; baseball was back. Well, it was for me, anyway.
I told my brother about how happy I was to have baseball (almost) around again, and he was so happy at how happy I was, and also that I'd gone with the Mets rather than Yankees (a decision that I came to naturally after watching both teams for the 2003 and 2004 seasons, I just knew that the Mets were my team, can't explain it), that he took me out and bought me a nice felt Mets banner and some small posters for my room (the 2005 team and :sigh: David Wright). Score.
And so, the countdown begins til the new season, yay Mets.
(and if I thought I was obsessed THEN... little did I know how deeply the '06 season would ensnare me.)