It’s going to be a long season Charlie Brown
I think I know what it feels like to be Charlie Brown every time Lucy pulls the football away. You tell yourself not to believe it will be any different this time, yet somehow you let yourself think that this is the time it all comes together. Such is the life of a Tiger fan, at least during the Randy Smith era. You hear all spring how and why this year will be better, how they made some key acquisitions, how the problems in the clubhouse have been eliminated, how this team believes it will win, how last year was just bad luck because of injuries. And then some small part of you actually starts to belive that this team is different, and as opening day approaches you are actually looking forward to the season. You’re looking forward to when that first pitch is thrown, because at this point, the Tigers still have hope. They’re playing in a weak division, and after all look at what Minnesota (or some other team that was really bad the year before that suddenly got good) did last year, that could happen to us. Plus, the Tigers have an easy schedule the first month. That should help them get off to a fast start.
And now you actually allow yourself to believe that this team might have a shot to do something. You ignore the fact this happens every year, and you forget that you swore to yourself last May that you would ever be fooled again. You ignore the fact that the hot new prospects the Tigers are relying on wouldn’t even make most of the better teams in the league. You pretend that the defense won’t be a problem. You think that even though the bullpen doesn’t have a proven lefty, it really shouldn’t be a problem. You don’t acknowledge that your only true power hitter will begin the season on the disabled list with an injury that caused him to miss all of last year. You tell your coworkers that if x happens, and if y happens, and if …, not realizing that you have listed 14 different things that have to fall in to place. None of that matters, just throw the first pitch.
Now here you are on opening day, watching as the game unfolds. Detroit falls behind, but it’s still early and there’s nothing to worry about. You watch them claw there way back into the game and think – “See this team is different, that never would have happened last year.” You fully commit yourself to the team, this year is different. You start running up to kick the ball and…AAARRRRGHHH. The bullpen collapses, the other team gets an infield double and before you know it the game is out of reach. Lucy just pulled the ball away. Charlie Brown, you blockhead! What’s most frustrating is that you let yourself believe, especially when you knew better. Of course you vow never to let this happen again.
But then again they could turn it around, it was only one game…