- April 19, 2024
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I really hope the local baseball and softball teams are as good as their football and basketball counterparts. It'll be one less reason for me to watch the Cubs.
BY MATT MENCARINI | STAFF WRITER
I’m new to Florida, and I’ve been struck with something odd: There are no seasons here. It’s summer. All the time.
This has its positives. First and foremost, it’s summer. All the time. But it has a drawback, too, espcially for someone born and raised in Chicago. My internal calendar is all out of whack.
But I’ve discovered a great way to recalibrate. Instead of looking for the weather to change, I look for sports to change.
And, in my opinion, we just so happen to be going into the best season of the year. Now, I love football (summer into fall) and hockey (fall into winter), but there’s nothing better than baseball (winter into spring).
Pitchers and catchers have reported to spring training here and in Arizona. And for a lot of fans, that means optimism.
For fans of ... certain teams (Cubs), not so much. But you’re not here to listen to me belittle the team I love.
Let’s talk, instead, about the game of baseball, and what it does to the people who love it.
Baseball fans, I believe, are better mental acrobats than fans of any other sport. When we think about our teams, we can make ourselves believe just about anything, because we have more data than we could ever have use for.
Without trying too hard, I’m sure you can justify, to yourself, at least, how a team that lost 90 games just one season ago can be a playoff contender this year.
And that’s OK this time of year. ’Tis the season. But just as spring becomes summer, and summer becomes fall, those optimisms, for some, will transform into steep, debilitating despair.
But that’s a good thing. It’s why baseball is so great. It’s never, ever too early to start thinking about the future (unless you’re a Cubs fan, of course).
If the quality of baseball (and softball) locally, is anything like I’ve seen on the football field or basketball court, there really are reasons for optimism.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised at what I’ve seen so far from Seabreeze, Mainland and Father Lopez. And I hope that trend continues. Because I could use a down-south distraction on the baseball diamond.
