“Just when I think I’m out, they pull me back IN!”

While those words were said by the infamous Michael Corleone from the very sub-par Godfather: Part III, it also represents how I feel at about this time every spring.

Why? Because baseball is back.

Every October, at the end of the Fall Classic, I feel completely empty inside. I feel like I just wasted my entire summer following a team (the Astros) that has yet to win the World Series – or even a playoff series. I feel like it’s not fair that the Yankees can have a payroll rivaling the GNP of some small countries, paying individual players more than some teams pay their entire teams. I feel like this is a over-hyped sport, that is no longer our national-pastime (wake up folks, the NFL rules all).

However, at this point, the Super Bowl has been played and the NBA season is starting to drag on. Before I know it, I’ll be planning trips to Florida to watch grown men do stretches.

It’s particularly surprising that I have this much excitement going into the season… especially after the debacle that was 2002.

The Yankees signed Giambi away from the A’s, making Oakland seem like they would never be able to compete with the big boys, and thus furthering one of the biggest problems that exists in baseball.

The All-Star game ended in a meaningless tie.

Players threatened to go on strike, only to have their asses saved at the 11th hour.

The previously mentioned A’s actually had a miraculous regular season, including a 20-something game winning streak, only to lose in the first-round to the formerly contraction-eligible Twins.

The Astros never had a chance, and their veterans grew yet another year older.

The Cardinals had one helluva emotional season… only to have it be squashed in an abrupt fashion by the Giants.

And in the end, a team owned by some Mickey Mouse corporation, with a hyperactive primate as its mascot, became the World Champions.

The season couldn’t have ended faster.

The events of the off-season, however, kept my window of interest open just the slightest bit. First, the ‘Stros went out and signed the biggest free-agent on the market in David Arquette’s stunt-double (Jeff Kent). Then, the owners talked about making the All-Star game be the determinant of who gets home-field advantage in the World Series… an idea I’ve long since campaigned for. And, of course, the Yankees said, “f**k you” to the newly-imposed luxury tax, and continued to spend like no other.

I guess that last point had nothing to do with sparking interest… but like every great movie, there has to be a kick-ass villain whom everybody loves to hate.

Last week, I was still lamenting the moves I made throughout the fantasy football season. This week, I’m deciding whether or not to include walks and OPS as stats in my baseball league. Remember… it was baseball that started the whole fantasy craze.

Why does baseball do this to us? Why do we crave a slow sport that is played almost every-single day… where each of the 162 regular season games seem absolutely meaningless in the grand scheme of things? It’s a sport that rarely has sell-outs, especially not on weekdays… a sport where competitive imbalance will eventually be the death of several teams (I hear the Expos are moving to India next year).

If you were expecting me to have the answer to any of these questions, dream on. All I know is that, come late-October , I’ll probably have the same complaints that I just mentioned (unless a certain Houston team is still playing). But for now, hope springs eternal.

Whether it be the Pirates, Brewers, Devil Rays, Rockies, or even the hapless Cubs, every team’s got a shot… until they find themselves dead-in-the-water, that is.

Kinda’ like Fredo.

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This entry was posted on Friday, February 21st, 2003 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.