Baseball, oh baseball. Why do you mock me so?

So by now you all know that our Dodgers lost the NLCS to the Cardinals. We attended Game 4, which was last Tuesday. The day was beautiful.

 

We were in a good mood at the start of the game.

 

The stadium was packed but things got ugly fast, and the Dodgers lost. It took us over an hour to get out of the parking lot, and I just had a gut feeling that it would be our last game at Dodgers Stadium this year.

The next day, the Dodgers posted this interactive stadium panoramic photo, where you can zoom in to find yourself. Not sure which inning they took this in, but you can imagine the mood at the stadium by the looks on our faces:

 

Still, the Dodgers won the next night to bring the series within one game. But Friday was atrocious and the Dodgers were eliminated. After the fourth inning I abandoned my post at the radio in the kitchen and cowered under the covers in my bed refreshing the MLB at bat app every few seconds and trying to block out the constant cheering of the St. Louis crowd on the TV.

 

I know these players don't know me, but it is hard not to take these things personally. Carlos Beltran, one of the best postseason players of all time, is remembered by Mets fans for the last at bat of the 2006 NLCS (against the Cardinals!) when he struck out looking and the Mets were eliminated. Now, as a Cardinal himself, he beat up the Dodgers in this NLCS. Somehow I feel like he did this to spite me. Irrational? Completely. But no one said sports fans had their heads screwed on right.

 

In the ALCS, the Red Sox beat the Tigers. My most hated baseball player of all time, Shane Victorino, hit a GRAND SLAM to seal the deal for the Sox in the game on Saturday. I mean, COME ON. I was rooting for the Tigers because I feel like Boston has had enough sports championships in the last decade and some other city should get a chance to celebrate.

 

So what I have I learned after another heartbreaking season of baseball?

1. The baseball gods are mocking me

2. It may be irresponsible for me as a mother to indoctrinate my children into love of a sport that will most likely leave them miserable season after season

3. After all the let downs and the heart palpitations, I somehow love baseball more than ever.

4. There is nothing rational about being a sports fan

 

There are over a hundred days until pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training. Maybe this year we will make the trip to Arizona to watch the boys in blue get ready for another season. I know these girls will be ready!