Joel Hanrahan: From Roberto Clemente nominee to traded
There’d be days like these my mama said. (And remember, my mom is a lifelong Cubs fan so she’d know)! Quite a shakeup over the last few days. I’m sure they’re not done yet. Joel Hanrahan and Lastings Milledge (who I never did high five) were traded to the Pirates for LHRP Sean Burnett and OF Nyjer Morgan. Elijah Dukes was optioned to AAA Syracuse. More trades/moves in the works? Yet, the results have remained the same. The Nationals were swept by the Marlins in games they led at one point. Burnett gave up the tying run in his debut yesterday.
It appears the de-Bowdenization of the team has aggressively begun. I know Joel’s had a rough season, but I’m bummed to see him go. He did well last season, but something wasn’t clicking this season. It’s too bad he was out of options because I would have rather seen him go to AAA for a while to straighten out and then come back. I still believe the talent is there, plus he’s good with the fans and in the community. The ideal ball player the club seems to be seeking. Good luck in Pittsburgh to him!
Watching four errors in a game, swings at balls in the dirt, wild pitches that score runs… oh the list could go on… makes this fan want to bury her head in her hands and squeeze her eyes shut. I have found myself frequently watching a game recently and wondering “why?”. Why do I give up three hours of my life nearly every day to watch? Why do I spent beaucoup bucks each season for a share of a season ticket plan? Plan my schedule around games and make sure I have a working radio or internet card for my laptop when I’m not home near a TV? I tried out a little experiment of shutting off my caring, detaching, and looking at it as “just a game” to see if I could turn it off and walk away. It works for about 10 seconds. Then I get right back in the game mentally and emotionally. But the experimenting has shown me that yes, I probably could turn it all off, view it logically, and stop devoting so much of my life to it. Maybe. At least for 10 seconds.
I think I need my head examined. There’s just something about rooting for your home team, feeling their pain of losses and gaffes, cheering their victories — that defines a fan and keeps them coming back for more. There’s probably a psychological diagnosis for it as well. Someday this team will rock and shock the country making news for something other than misspellings and I can say I was there from the beginning. Until then, I may need to come up with more mental devices to survive series with my sanity intact. But I was raised knowing there’d be days like these. Seasons even.
We do it because of the people. The people we celebrate and commiserate with – This year it’s been mostly commiserating. Fandom is itself a social network. Blogging and tweeting extend the social network and provide a way to stay in touch when we’re not tailgating, watching games or hanging out with friends and strangers sharing a common interest. Winning or losing is not the point – Admittedly winning is a lot more fun. But that will come. Go Nats!