The Toronto Blue Jays Season Expectations
The slog that is the offseason and Spring Training are over and we are here, Opening Day. The only thing more apprehensive than my approach to this post is my excitement for the season. We all know the roller coaster. The young Jays make a big announcement. They have arrived and we, as fans, have something to look forward to. The Front Office supports the roster and dollars are spent to bring in needle moving talent. The excitement builds and the team gets back to the playoffs with this new look roster as the echos of 2016 fade into the landscape of history.
Sweep, sweep, sweep.
Losing is part of fandom. Frustration is the fuel that rockets our joy to the stratosphere when our teams win. That fuel is spoiled when some part of the team feels like they aren’t holding up their end of the bargain. For years, the ownership of the team refused to spend dollars to get players. Yada yada, all the reasons players would not come to Toronto, I don’t care. It felt like the owners and Front Office were tying the team to an anchor of their own design. That’s a frustration that feels like you, the fan, cares more about the team than the people who put the team together. That all changed when the Bo & Vlad era came to town. The team went out and paid for that talent that could make a difference.
And it worked!
The product on the field was great. Sure, the team got swept out of the playoffs for a second appearance in a row, but the team was on the up and great things were on the horizon. The window was officially open. We were told that we would get a full-length feature film. What we got was a movie the robots on MS3TK would have been pleased to roast and another sweep. We got more games played than runs scored in this last iteration.
We know the story, so where does that leave us now, today, looking at game one of the season?
My expectations are zero this year and I am taking a ground up approach to the excitement I have for the season. I will watch or listen to as many games as I can catch, heyo. If the Jays win a game, I will be happy but not excited. If the Jays win a series, I will be pleased, but not excited. If they find a way to the top of the division, I will be pumped, but not excited. I will not get excited until this team reaches a level that I would consider to be a successful season.
Success this year will be to win a round in the playoffs. I will get excited when they make it to the ALCS.
That is a super lofty goal but if this team isn’t thinking World Series this year than why bother playing? Get out, retire.
I am ok when the bounces and rolls of baseball are the thing that prevents my team from winning. What spoils my joy of this game is not showing up when the talk is large. My joy is spoiled when the team purposely kills the love of the game for the sake of…..I don’t know what they hell they were thinking getting rid of the jacket. My joy dies a little when I see the team underperform night after night when they are in position to do the thing, they claim they were going to do, win. The missed moments and the playoff exit last year felt like a wet blanket. I’m starting this season at zero because I need to get out from under that blanket and start to believe again. I want to find the joy, but I want the team to get me there.
Make me believe.
