Faux Fan Fun (Or should I say, fury?)

FULL DISCLOSURE: I am not a true-blue Toronto Blue Jays fan. I am a “faux” fan, a “sort-of” fan, one who checks the score online before watching game recordings, one who seeks to avoid what the historic ABC Wide World of Sports called, “the agony of defeat.” I remember watching that poor skier crash down a steep vertical slope, week after week. I wonder if his kids while watching the show called down into the basement: “Dad, you’re on TV again.” Hopefully not.

Speaking of hope, what real fans — and us faux fans — watch right now is a six-game losing streak at home before a jam packed Rogers Centre. Day after day we watch an early-innings hole being dug, followed by a long slow claw back, typically to within the wrong side of a one run loss. Play; repeat; play; repeat. I can hear Maxwell Smart: “Missed it by that much.” Or the traditional claim: “Close only counts in horseshoes.” If baseball is “a game of inches” we hope now for an accuracy of millimeters. When it works — when a throw from third to first; when a pitch lands just in or out of the zone as planned — it’s a beautiful thing to watch. A two-out double sending a player to second base;  an athletic jump at the fence robs a batter of a home run. It’s ballet, when it works. Players feel it, as do fans.

What should have been a relatively easy home run, home stand this past week should have yielded at the very least a 50/50 win/loss split. So far this season they are at 39 wins and 45 losses (.464); games at home netted 22 wins with 24 losses. I won’t bother trying to justify or explain these outcomes. There is plenty of commentary out there to create PhD dissertations for a generation of sports analysts.

My concern above relates to the place and the function of fandom. What role do we, or should we, play in cheering on our Jays? We can throw metaphorical bricks at managers, the front office, background trainers, overpaid players,  hitting coaches, bat boys and our brilliant commentators. but to what end?  Well positioned cameras and replay technology allow us to command the decisions made, and mistakes denied by others. Some of us certainly do know the game and can reasonably critique performance. Not me, however.

The question remains; what can we fans do to keep up momentum? I will attend a game in Toronto in a few weeks’ time. So I guess I must shout (but not boo); I should wear the swag (but not the bling); I will not rush the gates when certain pitchers step on the mound. (Throw to third base anyone?)

I look forward to hearing the crack (sometimes smash) of the bat. I am just not sure I will survive the break of my heart.

Advice welcome. Go Jays.   

UPDATE: The Jays broke their losing streak Monday night defeating the New York Mets 2-1. They led from the first inning thanks to George Springer’s “little league” run round the bases. A happy feature of the game appeared in the return to Bo Bichette to Rogers Centre though on the opposing side. Given a jumbo-tron testimony Bo was greeted by a long standing ovation as he took to the batters box. Vladdy was obviously moved by the tribute.

So here’s a thought. Let’s get Bo back. An obvious fan favourite, his influence on the mood of the clubhouse was obvious last year. And who knows; could Bo’s presence inspire Vladdy to return to his own best player self? A thought.

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