Defeated

We've rolled into the start of the 2015 MLB season and things could not seem to be going much better.  The Detroit Tigers have come roaring out of the gate and up until this afternoon in Pittsburgh were a whopping 6-0 to start things off. When these kind of things happen I become more nervous than excited I think. What I mean is, when you get to games 5 - 6 - 7 of an undefeated start the pressure isn't so much to keep it up because the likelihood of an undefeated season seems impossible, improbable, and unrealistic but "who's going to be the one to pitch the first loss?"  In the opener, David Price threw a gem and it took three games for the Minnesota Twins to even put a run on the board. Game two was a beautiful start for Anibal Sanchez and an amazing day for the offense. The bottom of the lineup bringing in the RBIs and a HOT top of the lineup makes them a serious force to be reckoned with.

Naturally, life goes on and I've had a hard time keeping up with the last few games but I caught most of today's radio broadcast of the Pirates home opener vs. the Tigers.  The Pirates, who have brought their record up to 3-4, scored very early in the game which put a damper on an otherwise stellar sounding start for Sanchez. The 9th inning was an exciting way to close the game out, though, after the offense seemed to be rather shut down. Cole had an amazing start, plenty of strikeouts doled out for both pitchers actually, Kinsler boldly started with a double, Miggy doubled him in, and JD Martinez made it a very interesting game before the first out of the 9th was even recorded but that didn't stop the Buccos from holding on for the victory, striking out Victor Martinez for the final out of the game.

But back to what I was musing about to start this off. I think the first loss is an important one - not to show any sort of weakness, or vulnerability, ultimately the only negative thing being that the other team scored more runs than the losing team - only to take the pressure off and stop the worry of "who's gonna be the choker?" I think the Pirates are looking (well, sounding. I won't have seen them play a regular season game until tomorrow when I go in person) like they're off to a great start, even if their record isn't reflecting that. They're scoring runs, their pitchers are strong, and they got Burnett back, which I could not be any more excited about, and it's still really early.

Ultimately, I'm very pleased with the starts for both teams, and amped to see them playing each other so early in the season, especially since I can go TO the game. So just because they've had losses doesn't mean anything at all. Just because you've been defeated doesn't mean you've been deflated, it just means you've found a standard to set yourself on path with. You don't have to think about superstition, ritual, or making sure you set a routine to keep unreasonable goals. Don't get me wrong, obviously winning is important, but without a team dynamic that can handle the unavoidable occasional defeat, you can't gel completely.

It's going to be a very exciting season, I think. And I can't wait to see where things go from here.