Weekend America

A Baseball Dilemma

John Moe

SEPTEMBER 27, 2008

Weekend America host John Moe wonders if he's committing baseball adultery by rooting for a new team now that his beloved Seattle Mariners are on a losing streak.

---

This weekend is the end of baseball's regular season.

Here's my problem: I lived almost my entire life in Seattle, so I'm a fan of the Seattle Mariners. I own multiple caps, I can recite lineups from 1979. This year, the Mariners have lost over 100 games: worst team in baseball.

Last spring I moved to the Twin Cities, home of the scrappy Minnesota Twins, who are in a position to make the playoffs. I've found myself rooting for them. Am I committing baseball adultery?

Look, it's baseball, it's not real, I know that, and there are 700 billion more important things going on. But in this time of war and environmental crises and bankopalypses, baseball is fun and good and makes sense.

This week as I watched the failure of Washington Mutual, a bank that employs good friends of mine back in Seattle, I watched the Twins sweep the White Sox in three games to move into first place. I was happy. And I hated myself.

I don't want to be a bandwagon jumper, someone who becomes a fan of a team only when they become good and ditches a team when they stink. I don't want to be that guy. I hate that guy.

During seasons where the Mariners stank, and there have been many, I've always taken pride in enduring adversity. Which is easy to do when you're in Seattle and everyone's in the same boat. Since I've moved to Minnesota, where the team is good, it's not so simple.

See, when you arrive in a new place, there's an urge to assimilate. I want this place to feel like home. So I'm extra nice to neighbors. I think the best of people who might be friends. I go to the State Fair and eat crazy food on sticks. I watch the Twins.

There's more going on here than baseball. I think I know what to do. Root for the Twins in the playoffs but wear my Mariners cap while I do it. And just try to relax a little.

If I do that, I won't feel adulterous and I'll enjoy the game. Everything will make some sense. Baseball gives us order, which the crazy times we're living through sometimes can't. If I can cheer for a team for a few more weeks, that might be really nice these days.

Or I could somehow convince the government to bail out the Seattle Mariners, even though they managed their team like a bunch of idiots and are paying the price.

• Music Bridge:

  Jolly Joker

  Artist: Alter Ego

  CD: Why Not (Klang Elektoronik)

• What's Your Weekend Soundtrack?

  Maybe it was the backdrop to your greatest day ever. Maybe it's a song that brings you to tears. In the soundtrack to your life, what song is playing when the weekend comes around?

  Tell us about it.

Sponsorship

Download Weekend America

• Subscribe to the enhanced podcast

  

  Skip back-and-forth through stories, see images on iTunes and on your iPod -- all with better sound quality.

Sponsorship