I was lucky. I was 19 years old when Joe Carter touched 'em all. That means I grew up with a solid decade of competitive Blue Jays teams, always a threat to win the division.
Almost 20 years have gone by since that glorious '93 season. At some point in the late 90s, I got used to us fielding mediocre teams. When last season ended, it was yet another disappointing Jays season in a long line of disappointing seasons. There was no expectations, so the disappointment was minimal.
It's different this season. A big trade with the Marlins, a trade for the NL Cy Young winner and an intriguing free agent signing gave us hope. Unprecedented media hype, spear-headed by Rogers Communications Inc. and their need to fill seats and bolster television and radio ratings, have us all expecting a World Series. Hope will do that to you.
Hope? Let me tell you something, my friend. Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.
~ Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding, The Shawshank Redemption
So now we have hope, and with hope comes disappointment. I've got one eye on the game right now and we're trailing Detroit 5-2. If we lose, we'll be off to a dismal 2-5 start. That sure doesn't feel like '92 and '93. '89, maybe...
The realist in me says we've played 7 of 162 games. That's 4.32% of the season. Of course it's too early to give up on our 2013 playoff dreams.
Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.
~ Andy Dufresne, The Shawshank Redemption
There's lots of time to turn this around. Here's hoping.
