September 10: September Baseball

I've always hated the month of September. When I was younger, it marked the beginning of the school year. I know most schools start at the end of August, but I'm pretty sure my first day of first or second grade started in September so as far as I'm concerned, September means the end of summer. It meant the loss of days spent on Slip 'n Slides and the beginning of homework. September was synonymous with unbearably hot recesses and lunches and sweaty backs after walks home from the bus stop. After a ten game slide and six outs away from losing sole possession of first place, I hate September for a whole new reason.

The Padres are breaking my heart. All year I told myself that it was just a fluke that they were in first. I told myself it would never last. They weren't supposed to be any good, let alone this good. Fighting for the best record in the National League? That wasn't them. I would have been thrilled with a .500 record, but at the end of August they were a whopping 27 games over. After taking two of three games from the second place Giants, I started to believe. It wasn't about whether or not they would be playing in October. It was, "how deep could they go?"

They were six and a half games up on those fading Giants. The Rockies were done. The Padres, however, refuse to score runs now and both teams are back. If the Giants hold on to this lead, they will be tied for first. The Rockies have won their eighth in a row and are breathing down the necks of both the Giants and Padres with just two and a half games back in the standings. This is September baseball. I hate it.

They call it scoreboard watching. Every game matters. I'm not just talking Padres games. I'm not just talking Giants and Rockies games. I've got my eye on every single National League game at all times. The Florida Marlins are nine games out of the Wild Card race but I'm still rooting for the Washington Nationals. If I can't have the NL West title, I need every team going for the Wild Card to choke.

I'm convinced every action I make is directly related to the Padres' success. Do I keep the Padres jersey koozie on the gear shift while I drive or just while I'm parked? Will stepping on the cracks of the sidewalk leading into work actually matter? Should I eat every breakfast out of my Padres hat bowl or none of them? This is how September baseball affects my daily life and it's driving me crazy.

There is still a month of baseball. Anything, and I mean anything, can happen. Do I want the Padres to struggle to keep up for the next two weeks and then go on a tear to make the playoffs and cruise through the playoffs? Or do I want the Padres to go on a tear now, clinch a playoff berth and fizzle in the postseason? Obviously the former, but for crying out loud do I hate September. Watching a team that's still in it at this point in the season is better than watching a last place club, but isn't any picnic being in the situation either. I hate September.