Meh

Days like today are my least favorite in the entire baseball season: off days following a loss. Not counting the All-Star break, there are usually less than twenty off-days during the season (I think seventeen this year, but I may have miscounted). That's one of the great virtues of the baseball schedule - games, games, and more games! - but I'm especially thankful for it because it spares me from dealing with days like today very often (unlike, say, the basketball season, where I have to agonize through at least a day or two off after every single Bulls loss).

And let me tell you: I hate, hate, hate days like today. When Marx said that religion is the opiate of the masses, he only left out professional sports because it was in the days before cable TV and the internet. I really do use the White Sox like a drug; when I'm lying in bed at night, and am worrying about all the things I need to do the next day, I like to think about the team, or the last game, or good minor league prospects, and it takes my mind off my troubles. It really works like a charm. But when the Sox lose a game (especially one they should win, like last night's - Jarrod Washburn? Ugh.), the drug follows suit and loses its effect. Which isn't so terrible when I know that the next day the Sox will get a chance to right the ship and hang a W in the standings.

But today? Nope, no such chance. First I had to suffer through last night, when the drug wouldn't work. And then all day today I had nothing to look forward to (the Bulls-Heat game should be entertaining, but it's just not the same). And then again tonight I'll have to go to sleep with no happy thoughts (unless the Bulls pull off the upset). Stupid off-days. As long as it didn't affect their chances of going to the playoffs (and of course it would), I would almost prefer that the Sox won five games less over the course of the season, but went 17-0 during games before off-days. (For the record, they're at 3-2 so far.)

I don't really feel like writing much about yesterday's game. I will mention, however, that Buehrle's low BABIP and low strikeout rate (both mentioned in the last post) came back to bite him in the ass a bit. First of all, he struck no one out, which is just plain poor, especially against a weak team like the Mariners. And secondly, opposing batters hit .259 (7-for-27) on balls hit into play against him; while that number is still on the "lucky" side of average, it's much higher than what Buehrle's opponents had been averaging (.190), and probably a sign of what's to come.

[Post script - After putting up this post, it was recommended to me that I define the term "meh." Luckily, that same person provided a definition, which I think it just about right: "equal parts frustration and anger with a dash of boredom." Then another fine soul took a stab at it, with great vim and vigor:

[Meh =
[indifference 60%
[boredom 20%
[frustration 10%
[anger 5%
[disgust 5%

[Yep - that's meh alright.]