Thursday night, for reasons unbeknownst to me, I sat here, watching the conclusion of a game between the White Sox and the Blue Jays. All even 1-1 in the top of the ninth, Juan Pierre singled home a pair of runs on an infield single, and the Jays went on to absorb a miserable loss.
My Night And Day With A Blue Jays Fan
Where there was tight and tense action on the field, though, I quickly found myself distracted by a fan in the background. A Jays fan, wearing a white shirt and sitting in the front row behind home plate. This was a fan who seemed to live and die by the events that took place before him, and I was struck by his commitment and devotion.
That fan’s ninth inning in review:
Omar Vizquel strikes out with a runner on third
Juan Pierre appears to strike out to end the inning
The umpire decides that Pierre made contact and was still alive
Fan sits in quiet contemplation following Pierre’s subsequent two-run single
Aaron Hill draws a walk, trying to spark a rally
Eric Thames strikes out
Rajai Davis strikes out, and the game ends
It’s the very picture of pure, unrequited fanhood. From the glorious highs to the depths of despair, we can all relate to this fan’s experience. We know what it’s like to get caught up in a big moment. We know what it’s like when that big moment breaks the wrong way. We know what it’s like to cling to some shred of hope that a wrong break will be righted, and we know what it’s like when it’s clear that it won’t. Finally, we know what it’s like to resign ourselves to bitter defeat. In a way, this fan was all committed sports fans, clad in a white tucked-in polo.
I couldn’t stop replaying the fan’s actions in my mind as I went to sleep, so I woke up Friday thinking I’d go back through the game, checking in on the fan at various significant moments. The fan was easily the most invested and animated of all that I saw in the ninth, so it stands to reason that he’d probably be the most invested and animated in all innings previous. Below, my findings.
Adam Dunn strikes out with a runner on third in the eighth
Yunel Escobar hits a game-tying homer in the sixth
Paul Konerko leads off the sixth
Carlos Quentin leads off the fourth
Yunel Escobar bats in the third
John McDonald bats in the third
Brandon Morrow throws the first pitch of the game
Turns out there weren’t many significant moments before the ninth. Probably what I should’ve expected, given the 1-1 score. But what I found while going back was that the seemingly die-hard fan wasn’t present for the first pitch. Hell, he wasn’t present for the first inning. He wasn’t present for the second inning, either, nor was he present for the third, although his seat was mysteriously occupied by a small young woman for all of one plate appearance. The man doesn’t appear until the top of the fourth, and he isn’t seen acting out in any meaningful way until the top of the eighth.
So we’re left in a curious position. The cynical attitude is that this guy isn’t a die-hard fan at all. He missed the whole first third of the game, and then snacked, chatted and stared at his phone for the next several innings. He finally began to show real enthusiasm in the top of the eighth, but that easily could’ve been fueled by a need to overcompensate, a compulsion to be obnoxious, or alcohol.
But you shouldn’t be that negative. Maybe the guy was late because he had to stay at work. Maybe he kept checking his phone because he still had more work to do. Maybe this guy came out late to the ballpark because catching some of a game is better than catching none of a game, and there’s no place he’d rather be than the front row of the Rogers Centre, watching his Blue Jays. You can’t get closer to the action than sitting in the first row of seats.
On the one hand, we have a Jays fan who didn’t show for three innings. On the other hand, we have a Jays fan who felt the events of the final few innings deep within his heart. I didn’t see anybody else reacting the way he reacted. Best Blue Jays fan? I’m here only to present evidence, but I think the evidence is pretty suggestive.
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