Monkey Diaries Archive

Baseball in October is different. Is there any sporting event that so closely resembles a Greek Tragedy as baseball in October? Sure, you can point out a variety of sports that are loaded with drama but in no other team sport are the participants so thoroughly weighed down by the burden of such demanding emotional and mental duress. Football has drama but it is of a physical nature. Soccer is all about stamina. Basketball is really about courage. Baseball meanwhile is a three hour mind fuck of the most devilish nature. In October baseball, almost every game is must win and each contest has gods & mortals, heros & villains, warriors & poets. It is the Illiad in a microcosm. In spite of the heat currently hanging over the city of San Francisco where I live, I don't mind sitting in my overheated apartment sweating as I watch the boy's of summer strive to become world champions. Under normal circumstances, those being any other day in any other month, I can't be bothered to tune in to just any game. If it doesn't feature my beloved Padres trying to scratch out a win or two, my interest could best be measured in nano-seconds. But... in October baseball is different.