Monday, May 19, 2008

To Leave or Not To Leave

Before this discussion even begins, I want to clarify that I was taught the proper respect for the game by my father - you leave the game after the last out and not a second sooner. So any opinion to the contrary is not as a result of improper upbringing and does not show deficient breeding - lest I tarnish the Robison name and the clan Gunn and its illustrious ties to baseball fandom forever.

That having been said, the question has been raised many times before by fans the world over - when is the proper time to leave the game. Out of sheer respect for the players, who must continue to battle until the final out no matter the outcome, it would seem that the short answer is the traditional answer - you leave after the final out. However, in this post-modern era of complicated schedules and rushed lives, is that model of fan behavior even realistic anymore.

I have been to three games this season and my average departure time has been the 7th inning stretch. The first game ran long and it was a school night - so we left early and were pleased with the ultimate outcome as the Giants won just about the time I got home. The second game - this last Monday - the Giants managed to allow the Astros back into the game, and ultimately to take the lead, before I left. The Astros eventually beat the Giants 7-4, but I was already home before that happened. To be fair, the game had come out of nowhere and I had not really scheduled for it - so any innings of the game that I saw were technically extra innings as far as my viewing schedule was concerned. Yesterday, the Giants and White Sox were battling one another in a game that was sloppy and ugly. After the Giants battled back to a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the 7th, they promptly gave up three runs in the top of the eighth and we decided to leave. Before we reached the car, the Giants got two runs back in the bottom of the eighth to make it 9-8. But by the time we were in the car and had got the radio on, the White Sox had increased their lead to 13-8, which also turned out to be the final score. Though if you were to ask me, the outcome was never in doubt after the White Sox took the 9-6 lead.

We've all been surprised by dramatic comebacks. We've all seen upsets. We've all watched the tide turn and momentum change. But for some reason, it just happens less in baseball than other sports. There are games you go to where the odds of scoring one or two runs to make a comeback seem as long as a basketball team from Somalia making up a 40 point first half deficit against the Dream Team. Not insurmountable. Not impossible. But definitely improbable - to the extreme.

But should the decision of whether to leave or not to leave be based entirely on your team's chances to win? Should weather be factored in? Should schedule have any factor in the decision? Or should a die hard fan remain intact at a game until the players trot off the field for the last time?

My actions say one thing. My heart says something else. Not all that different from the struggles in my Christian faith. Sometimes remaining faithful to the things we love can be hard in the face of our struggles with daily life. I hope for a day when I no longer have anything better to do than watch my team and support them with my presence and my prayers until the outcome is complete and the best team has won.

2 comments:

Enoch_Root said...

left a Brewer game early when still dating my wife to be. we left, as it was raining and cold. this was many years ago, when the games were still at Milwaukee County Stadium. We turned on the radio as we drove home. Brewers won in the bottom of the 9th with a grand slam. that taught me something. that is, the Brewers do better when I am not in the stands. :)

mckay said...

i like to stay until the last inning - well possible. i, too, have a little boy with early school schedules and weeknight games can run very late.


the angels have has some awesome 9th innings this year, so it's always worth staying when one can.


baseball is like sex. waiting for what happens at the end is always recommended.

mck.