The Mariners have an incredible penchant for suddenly dousing whatever pronouncements we make about them. And they do this in BOTH directions.
You watch them over months, trying to keep judgment suspended so as not to make a premature decision about their future. You finally give in.
They're in a TERRIBLE stretch that has just last TOO long. So you decide and pronounce that they are indeed TERRIBLE. Blow 'er up. This train will never make it down the track. And just when you're sure that aNOTHER GM is gonna be needed, that this one too has botched the job...
Then they start playing VERY GOOD. And you withhold judgment, but doggone the good streak goes on for ten games, and they look like they might be a juggernaut waiting to happen. You finally give in and decide to reignite your excitement about the "good ol' M's. You waver between guilt for having doubted them and convincing yourself that you never really did doubt them.
So what's it gonna be? Are you gonna be a foo' for re-investing in Believerhood? Or are you gonna be a foo' for Believing? Pick your poison.
The M's are again flashing the sort of offense that previously this season made me salivate over the possiblities. And this after a start that made me feel like an idiot for getting excited about them. But the moment I jumped on SSI to share the excitement they proceeded to daily roll out a team that rivalled the early Mets for futility on both offense and defense. Now they are back to being Supermen.
I have become Schizo-Man. The superhero who alternates between "Dem Bums" and "Way To GO!!"
Therefore I have decided to become a monk. At least for one day. Seclude myself, detach myself, contemplate ultimate things and be done with the cares of this baseball world.
Tomorrow, of course, if the M's continue to thrash opponents and James Paxton again pitches like Sandy Koufax, I will revoke my monk-ness and return to rabid fandom.
Long live the M's. Being a fan of theirs is a sure recipe for insanity.