Sigh. The baseball season is over.
While others will watch the Division playoffs and the World Series, Blue Jays fans know the truth: It’s over. And over in stunning fashion, with a Bichette/Springer outfield collision taking the latter out of the game, injured, and allowing three runs, effectively taking the Blue Jays out of the game, too.
For those in Ottawa, this is the second abrupt baseball-season-ending event this year. Four weeks ago the Frontier League’s Ottawa Titans lost a third-game squeaker in their Division championship. The baseball season was over.
You can’t compare the two, I guess. Some Major League players earn tens of millions of dollars; the median salary was $1.2 million/year. Frontier League players earn between $1,000 and $2,000/month. For the summer months. The Blue Jays drew over 30,000 fans to games this year; the Titans feel lucky when they have 3,000 bums in seats.
Earning millions or riding the bus. Hitting for the win or trying to stay alive. Building a career, chasing a record, or getting one last play in before your mom calls you in for supper. Baseball is all of that, and more. Baseball offers a chance at a moment in the sun. Here’s to all those who step up to the plate.
Isabel
The picture of the empty seats tells it all.
There’s nothing more lonely than the street after the parade has gone by…which is, I’m sure, how loyal Blue Jays fans feel this morning.
Tom
Tom – I often wonder whether sports is a net downer – if the thrill of victory outweighs the agony of defeat.
When I did my MBA, one of my projects in strategic planning was analyzing the business of our AAA baseball club, the Cannons. The owner explained that they knew the team would win less than a third of their games. If their players were on a hot streak, the major league team would call them up. Thus, entertaining the crowd was the key strategy. Keep bums coming to sit, cheer, and buy stuff, not to mention tickets, which were relatively inexpensive. Winning and especially making the playoffs were cherries on the top of the sweetness of playing professional ball.
Judith – Interesting. Thanks! This reminds me of the executive who moved into hotel management and was startled to learn that they could rent-out every room and not make a profit. Their extras were conference bookings and food/beverages. Our new owners in Ottawa are working to add the fun-&-family factor, but whether it will be enough to keep their noses above water, I don’t know. We have a history of running baseball teams out of town. As for the joy of playing professionally, I sure hope they’re enjoying it – they’re not supporting themselves, much less a family.
That was a crushing defeat indeed. We watched it until the 8-5 or so point and went out for dinner, not taping the rest. I intended on watching game 3 today. Having said that, I am moving on. With baseball, I am a “the King is dead, long live the King” boychik.
I’ll be carrying on today, watching the Mets-Padres game three with relish. And looking forward to someone kicking the Yankees A$$ in the future. Even they have some redemptive qualities this year in my view, namely the Judge story and my man crush on Anthony Rizzo. The world is not over, save for the GTA.
Ken – Yeah, it was a “don’t look away” game after that 8-5 point. Hard to believe. But you’re right – we can still cheer for the Cardinals. 🙂