Sunday, October 08, 2006

¡Hasta luego!

This will be my last post for a while, possibly for good.

Don't worry, the Astros' dismal season didn't dim my love of baseball. Quite the contrary--I've been looking at next year's schedule, and was delighted to note that the good guys play several out-of-town weekend series, including Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, San Diego, St. Louis, Chicago, New York, and Arizona, among others. So my options to be able to visit other ballparks next year are looking pretty good! Plus, I'm going to a meeting in Denver in August, and while the Astros aren't playing the Rockies that week, Colorado is at home, so I'll probably make a visit to Coors as well. Fun times!

It is the end of the season, though, and as always at this time of year, I feel the need for a little break. The thing is, I've felt for a bit now that my life is a little unbalanced. I used to be a very well-rounded person, I thought, but it seems like I've let baseball take over (my own fault, of course). I've found myself so many times this year facing the question, "So, what did you do this weekend?" only to hear myself answer, shrugging, "Baseball."

It feels like there's just something wrong with that.

It would take something major--I don't know what--to make me walk away from being a baseball fan altogether. It's probably not possible. But, in an effort to find that balance again, I can choose to spend my time differently, and I probably will. The easiest thing to change, and to give up, is blogging about baseball. I've questioned for a long time whether I actually added any value to the blogosphere with my efforts--I don't live-blog games, I don't post after every game like some sites. I just, now and then, throw an opinion out there about my team. I've amused myself a bit, and I've made friends with some terrific folks, including redbirdbrain, lakeline, and the kind gentleman over at Astroday. But I've also found myself in a bit of a fan's no-man-land. I live in such a football-centric state and town that I am commonly labeled a "freak" just because I like baseball. When people find out I sometimes keep score, they start looking at me askance and backing away. No one I work with knows that I blog about baseball, and even my BBF Max, when I told him, said, "That's weird." (Needless to say, I didn't share the URL with him.) On the other hand, I routinely get flamed on message boards and websites because I'm not a sabermetrician. How is it that I can be too into baseball on one hand, and yet not enough on the other?

I don't get it.

But I do get this, and the wonderful sentiment it captures. I know I can keep up with the friends I've made without ever posting again, and I know that next spring I'll be looking forward to that first National Anthem, the first feel of sunshine on my face (roof open, of course!), that first swig of cold beer, and the first crack of a bat as the ball rockets toward the Crawford Boxes.

Here's to balance--cheers!

1 Comments:

At 6:19 PM, Blogger danyah said...

HA! You totally did.

Mizzou is here next weekend, which means it will be in Columbia next year. That could be interesting! (Oh, and y'all will no doubt kick the Ags' ass this year, unfortunately!)

Here's to next year, in football, baseball, ballpark tours, everything. (And I totally mean that! Hee!)

D.

 

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