In the spring of 2005, I was in the process of relocating back to the DC area. I was living in Chicago, working on a project outside Indianapolis, and flying to DC every other weekend to get reacquainted with my new home. Things were hectic to say the least. But one of things that made this arrangement enjoyable was knowing that every other weekend when I was in DC I was most likely to head to RFK and cheer on this new baseball team of ours! And they were a baseball team that was winning games. How exciting!! So I flew to DC every other weekend, rented a car, and went to games with my family. Considering I was going to games almost every other weekend (when both the team and I were in town at least), you’d think I would have seen a winner every now and then, right? Well, think again. That first spring, the Nationals did not win a single game that I attended. Not one. This is not an exaggeration; they were losing every game I went to. I would leave after the weekend ended and my brother would report to me all the winning games he went to the following week. And then I’d come back two weekends later and see…a losing game.
When the days of splitting weekends was over and I was permanently living in the DC area in July 2005, I figured that I’d start seeing winning games. I mean, I traveled Monday through Friday for work, but I was now home EVERY weekend, so my chances to see a win increased, no? Now, by this point I think the Nationals had been in first place for the entire month of June or something like that (I don’t claim to have my facts entirely accurate here, so hold your comments). I figured, “This is it! Bring on the winning games!!” But, um, no such luck for me. Every game I went to, they lost. Somewhere near this time, I recall reading a Gene Weingarten article about how every game he attended was a loss and someone responded that every game that person went to was a win, and what would happen if they went together? Funny, but it made me feel a little better that I was not the only one missing out on these wins!
Eventually, on August 9th of 2005, my birthday no less, I saw the Nats win. Unfortunately, I was working on a project in Houston at the time and the Nationals were playing the Astros – at their home, Minute Maid Park. So while I was thrilled to see the win (oh, and how much do I love seeing my team win when they are away and I am there wearing my Nats hat?), it still was not a home win. I flew back home for the weekend happy, but still unfulfilled. The season ended without my seeing a home win.
After seeing another Nats win while working in Atlanta in 2006, I finally decided that I was destined to only see wins on the road. In fact, it would not be until sometime in June or July of 2006 – Yes, 2006 – that I would see a win at RFK. And it isn’t like I wasn’t going to games…I was! I cannot tell you the exact date, but I do know that it was won on a Nick Johnson walk-off homerun. I remember turning to my brother and saying, “Do you know what this means?” And he said, “Yes, we won!!” and then, “Oh wait…you saw us win at home!!!!”
1 ½ seasons to wait for a home win. But the funny thing is, I really didn’t care. I still enjoyed going to games, I still had fun discussing the losses, I still wore my hat and was excited for the team to be in DC. And then the next season, I became a season ticket holder. So here we are, three years after viewing my first home win, and I find myself slowly becoming less excited, and this concerns me. Me, Ms. Positive, I’m starting to get worn down. But what am I down about? Is it the losses?
In 2005 and 2006, amid all those losses, I didn’t know about chat boards. I didn’t know about blogs. I didn’t realize that there was this world of “fans” that discussed on a daily, no wait, on an hourly basis the ins and outs of each bit of Nationals baseball. I just didn’t realize that people had the the time to do this. I had no clue. But now I read the blogs, I read the chatboards, I read the online reports and the responses from folks. And now I am down. I am depressed. I am having a harder time keeping my chin up. I am having less fun at games. I am less optimistic. Is there a correlation? I don’t know.
I have a belief that negativity breeds negative results. I also believe negativity is contagious. Am I blaming the fans for the losses? Absolutely not! But I am blaming them for my as-of-late baseball fatigue. I am blaming some of them for my spiral downward. I am blaming them for starting to not care. So here is what I am going to do: I am going to go to games and pick a piece of something good and write about here, and if folks want to submit comments to me and be negative here, I’ll deal with that. But I am not going to read the comments posted on other blogs, chat rooms, or online articles. I’m not going to listen to “Fire Manny,” which will be replaced with calls for “Fire Person X” when that result doesn’t work, followed by “Fire Person Y” when that doesn’t work, etc. I’m going to go into my positive cocoon and think, “It is only baseball. It’s fun. It’s a good way to spend the summer afternoon or evening. It’s a good way to bond with friends, family, and strangers who truly love the game.”
I sit in a section of the ballpark that is pretty much designated for groups. There are hardly any season ticket holders up there with me. At first, this bugged me because I felt like the lone group of fans among the masses of those who don’t care. But now I am thinking in a different light. I am going to take this as an opportunity to talk to people in those groups and find out if they are having fun. Is it their first trip to Nationals Park, to any baseball game? Do they closely follow the game of baseball, or are they just happy for being there tonight? Are they enjoying themselves despite the loss? Basically, are they ‘me’ as I was back in 2005-2006? I hope that I find out that they are.
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June 15th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Oh, it its your fault!
I kid of course, especially since the Nats are a whooping 1-5-1 all-time at Nationals Park with me there. Clearly, I’m part of the problem too.
June 15th, 2009 at 11:59 am
hang in there Carolyn.
there are lots of people that think they know how to fix things when they really have no idea what is broken.
June 15th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I’ll learn to deal with the Nats’ decision whether to fire or hire, to let go or re-sign, Manny or anyone else. Just make a decision, guys!
June 15th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
And then there are those of us that simply go to enjoy the game. It doesn’t matter which teams are playing or even the outcome of the game. All that matters is sitting and enjoying a sunny afternoon or the setting sun in the evening, enjoying the hotdog in your hand, and observing one of America’s truly great summer pasttimes. You can take the kid out of the game, but you can never take the game out of me!
June 23rd, 2009 at 6:24 am
Better to distance yourself from the negativity of online commenters than from the team, I always say.
I sometimes avoid reading comments to the Nationals Journal blog during losing streaks (I know exactly what I’ll see there). One thing I will note is that after wins many of the naysayers seem to stay away, so that one can often share in the enjoyment of a win with like-minded fans. You might want to check it out!
p.s. One of my bestest baseball buddies lives in Chicago. She is a Cubs fan but grew to love the Nats after a 2005 visit to DC in which we attended several games. What’s not to love?