World Series tough to watch for the dedicated Jays fan

By: Melissa Verge

Canadian Baseball Network

I want to take my Blue Jays postseason hat and my half crushed cookie that says “ALCS” on it and burn it in a nice little bonfire in my grandparent’s backyard.

It’s probably not the most devoted thing to say as a Jays fan, but they’ve both been sitting on my dresser for more than a week now constantly mocking me about what could have been.

Three wins away from the World Series.

 I had already planned how the remainder of my student loan would be used to buy up as much World Series gear as possible.

Thank you government of New Brunswick.

So yeah, it sounds like a nice idea now to sit outside and toast a marshmallow over my burning postseason hat. Maybe I’ll buy some hotdogs and make it a meal.

Besides, it’s cold in Toronto and the players have probably flown to warmer countries to cry. My options for traveling to a warmer place are limited by lack of funds.

So I guess I’ll just cry in front of my little fire and hope that Toronto doesn’t have any laws against burning things in the backyard.

 Do hats make good fire starters? I suppose I could throw in my rally towel to help.

The sad thing is about the season is that I don’t really feel anything.

Maybe I’m in shock. I think it’s possible I have pent up anger. I’ve never been to a therapist before but maybe it’s a good time to start.

Or maybe I’ll just stock up on canned food, pretend I’m a bear, and go into hibernation for the winter. I’ll survive off of bottled honey.

Why bother coming out when there’s no baseball?

I’ll probably sound like an old person when I say this, but it literally feels like just yesterday that it was April and it was the first game of the season.

And now the World Series is starting today and we should have been in it. I had my hat and everything.

I was prepared to jump up and down and high five people I probably would have normally pushed in a rush to make it to the subway.

Living in Toronto makes a person kind of ruthless, but inside the Rogers Centre during postseason baseball I didn’t feel like pushing anyone.

I didn’t know anybody and they didn’t know me, but our solidarity was represented by matching blue caps.

Now I guess I’m just going to have to lie in bed all day with the memories.

And so I don’t get too lonely I’ll probably cuddle up with one of those giant bags of Chicago mix popcorn from Costco. While the Cleveland and Chicago fans are screaming and crying and doing whatever it is people do at a World Series game, I’ll be in bed trying to decide whether to eat a piece of caramel or cheesy popcorn next.

It’s disgusting, I know. I would much rather be at the Rogers Centre surrounded by people wearing blue and white jerseys and drinking too much beer.

I only wish I could be feeling what the fans are feeling in Cleveland and Chicago. The last time the Jays made it to the World Series I was three years unborn, so I don’t even know what it feels like.

23 years ago.

I imagine it’s something like the wild card game felt like, people jumping up and down like rabbits, acting like they had just won the lottery and that they were friends with everyone in the stadium when neither was true.

Being a sports fan is so much better when your team is winning.

Now I guess I’ll start on my big bag of popcorn. I’ve got five long months to go until April. Maybe if I’m feeling brave I’ll turn on the radio for a little and listen to the game. If I imagine hard enough maybe I can pretend the announcers are saying “Jays” instead of “Cubs.”

But hey, there’s always next year.