Shouldn't I Feel Better About Winning?

Let's face it, this 2007 Mariners club continues to exceed expectations and we are currently tied with the Yankees for the wildcard at 16 games over .500. If anyone would have notioned that we would be talking about the playoffs in the middle of August, I would have dismissed it as a ridiculous claim and would have had a good chuckle over it. Now I talk to a lot of M's fans daily, and the percentage of them who would have predicted the Mariners to be this good is 0%. No one, and I mean NO ONE, saw this coming. In fact the consensus was that our goal should be to finish over .500 and not finish in the basement of the A.L. West. I don't think we have to worry about either of those now, especially the latter because Texas is doing that job pretty well.

But even though we're winning, it really doesn't feel like it. I guess it's because I'm not used to many winning ballclubs, following the Orioles before the Mariners, following the Wizards in the NBA when they sucked, and following the Ravens through the sub-par years after the superbowl in 2001. I guess there is a bit of surrealism that effects my feelings. Check that, a lot of surrealism. It happened last year when I dismissed the Ravens as a non-contender before the season started, predicting we'd go 9-7. Like the Mariners, they exceeded my expectations and went 13-3 and advanced to the playoffs as a #2 seed. I remember that when they clinched the division, it took a while to sink in. I remember questioning myself on why I wasn't as excited as I should be. I guess it's just the fact that I still had my doubts about what was going to happen in the playoffs that kept me from thoroughly enjoying it.

The Mariners this year have given me the same kind of doubt with a manager resigning in the middle of a winning season, a new manager and his questionable decisions, poor pitching performances, inconsistent play by almost everyone throughout the year, extended scoring droughts, and extended losing streaks. Though our record is drastically better than anyone would have imagined, It's hard to believe that we can keep our pace up to make the playoffs, especially as we are contending with some really good teams. I hear people saying that there is "no doubt" that the Yankees will make the playoffs and I ask myself "Wait they are tied with us so for the wildcard so why do I feel so much doubt?" Only time will tell how the season will pan out. From now on I'm just going to try to enjoy winning and hope that if our team collectively struggles or if a player individually struggles, we can be resilient and bounce back. We've already done it this season. We've come charging out of a few extended losing streaks. Sexson and Ibanez are carrying the team over the last 7 games. Vidro continues to impress though his first half was under heavy criticism. John McLaren's decisions, though sometimes questionable, are not affecting our record. And finally Bill Bavasi's moves, though each is criticized to no end, are actually not turning out to be so bad.

Let's keep up our winning ways and ENJOY IT because we are very fortunate to be where we are today.