Group Therapy: Let's pat ourselves on the back and encourage each other

at least we still have our dignity!

upon further review, no we don’t.

Perhaps we have to accept the O’s as you do a buddy who’s down on his luck and share in the misery.

No one wants to share beers with the guy who’s life is all peachy keen and looking nowhere but up. He’s about to graduate and take a six figure starting position. His girl friend is actually quite cute and the wedding plans are formulating. His concerns are what neighborhood to buy into, what type of automobile to upgrade to, and how to invest his in the company provided 401K. The net result is he’s the bore of any outing. Soon enough, he’ll stop attending anyhow as the future plans take priority, and no one will go much out of their way to invite him.

Admit it, we like the guy who just failed his written exams and his future just became muddier. His junker just blew something or other and he fears he’s facing an expensive repair that he’ll struggle to afford. His lease is about to expire he’s wondering where to live assuming he has no car. To add a little more spice, he had a doozy of a breakup with the last girlfriend, which even though it was nine months ago, the topic of how she thoroughly used him still provides plenty of discussion. But deep down, he’s a good guy and is struggling to make a go of it. Sort of like you, but even more down on his luck. He’s the guy we all enjoy having a beer with.

However, the more I think about it, perhaps he [the O’s] isn’t really such a swell guy nor is he really trying all that hard to better his lot in life. Perhaps he’s more like the flunky parasitic family member always looking for a handout. You have to accept him to some degree, as he is blood, but you plead with him to straighten out his act. It falls on deaf ears, and only your mother seems to have some faith that he’ll get his life in order. She prays for him every day. You just try to avoid him, but you can’t quite completely turn that full 180 degrees away from him.

I’ve said this before, but you watch the young guys to find meaning in the games. You watch Adam Jones, Chris Davis, Matt Wieters, Chris Tillman, and Tommy Hunter because all of them are 25 or younger who are under control for multiple seasons. I would add Arrieta and Matusz but obviously they’re not with the big club now. And Nolan Reimold is 27 but he should be considered part of the list above. I really don’t watch games anymore. I watch the ABs of the above guys and starts by Tillman and Hunter. If the team is ever going to competent soon, it’ll be on the backs of these guys. If you want hope, watch these guys, and more importantly, read dfa’s minor league summary every morning.

We are awful, I buy LF upper bleacher seats and I have sat 5-10 rows behind 3B 15-20 games a year for 6-7 years now.

Is one of the main pleasures I get from being an O’s fan at this moment. As long as we suck, I know that at any time I can get some cheap/free tickets and have some premium seats and enjoy a major league baseball game. I think we are extremely fortunate that we got our new stadium when we did, before this horrible trend of luxury seats and high priced boxes started coming into fruition. Of course I’d much rather have a winning team and have to pay a little extra, but for now this is what I will be happy with.

I just wish Peter Angelos would feel the same way.