10PM EST games are bullshit

Look, I am a huge Tiger fan. My mood is typically predicated on the result of the previous day's ballgame. I watch over 100 ball games every season and sat through the 9th inning dutifully for years of Todd Jones and Fernando Rodney circus acts. I live in D.C. and pay for two cable packages (Comcast and DirecTV) so I can watch the game on either T.V. depending on my wife's schedule.

But, I am too God damned old for 10PM starts. I work for a living but there is just no damn way I am watching my boy Dontrelle (formerly known as D-Train) throw 110 pitches in the first four innings. As much as I want to see "Easy" Eddie Bonine toss some long relief, I can't start watching something that I know won't end until after 1AM. I mean, I know there is a chance that Inge might come up in the 9th inning with two men on and another chance to ground into a double play. I think I will just take that chance and do my cussing in the morning when I check ESPN at 7AM.

It's 9:30 as I write this and I'm fighting just to finish up before I fall asleep as my wife watches Dancing with Stars. I should be watching Gerald "Lard" swinging and missing at a high fastball with Carlos stranded at 2nd base. I could be watching Raburn dropping another fly ball with two outs in the 8th inning or commenting on how I can't remember the last time we stranded this many men on base. Instead, I am going to bed irritated that the Tigers will have one more loss in the morning when I wake up.

That's what sucks about the West Coast. I think the Tigers hate the games as much as I do. They are listless out there every time. I don't care if it's Seattle, Anaheim or Oakland - I always go to bed with the terrible feeling that we're losing. Then I get to feeling guilty that my team is playing and I am not supporting them. I lay there in bed thinking about whether Miggy crushed another home run that I didn't witness or if Austin is still out-playing Grandy. Nothing worse than laying in bed until midnight and not sleeping while I could have been dozing off while Rod waxed on about Bondo's "wicked slide piece partner!".

Then again, I could get the West Coat Christmas present and wake up to our 8th win of the year and my day will be filled with sunshine and I might even stay up tomorrow night to get disappointed.