Growing up in the 1970s and 80s as a Cleveland Indians’ fan, I never came close to experiencing the roller coaster ride that is playoff baseball.
I was a sophomore Muskingum College in the fall of 1990 when Pittsburgh and Cincinnati met in the National League Championship Series. Because of the school’s location (near the intersection of I-77 and I-70), the dormitories were inhabited by numerous Pirates’ and Reds’ fans.
The Reds, led by Rob Dibble and the ‘Nasty Boys’ bullpen, won that match-up, as well as the World Series that followed. The Pirates, led by Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke, and Doug Drabek, returned the the NLCS the next two years, both times suffering crushing game 7 losses to the Atlanta Braves.
I wonder if any Pittsburgh fans remember the name of Francisco Cabrera. If not, let me refresh your memory.
As I observed my fellow dorm mates watching those epic playoff series, night after night, for hours on end, a thought entered my head.
“If the Indians are ever lucky enough to reach the playoff holy land, I am gonna be in BIG TROUBLE.”
Being a double-major student and also playing football at the time, my weeknights were budgeted with a good portion of study time. Baseball games that last 3 to 4 hours can put a serious kink into those academic plans.
Fast forward to 1995. The Indians amazingly became the darlings of Ohio, going 100-44 in a shortened season to smash their way into the playoffs. That fall, I was newly married, in my third year teaching, and also coaching varsity football. I came to realize at that time that the college version of myself didn’t have a clue as to what ‘busy life’ truly was. College Mac never had to get up before 7 am. Working Mac relished the rare morning when he got sleep in past 7 am.
Those 1995 Indians knocked off Seattle to get to the World Series. Unfortunately, one of the games occurred the same night that I had parent-teacher conference duties, which didn’t end until 9 pm. I can remember getting pretty jittery as I agonizingly worked through the final few conferences of the evening with my four-person teaching team. No smart phones at that time, or any cell phones for that matter, to keep me up to date on the score.
We finally made it to our final 15-minute conference. Each member of our teaching team shared their thoughts with the parent. I probably talked for a grand total of 38 seconds as I eagerly anticipated the moment that I could bolt out the door. Unfortunately, one of our teaching veterans decided to give that last conference her full teaching treatment. 9:00 passed. Then 9:05. It was at least 9:10 before the meeting mercifully came to an end, and I raced home.
During the Tribe’s glory years from 1995-2001, when they made the postseason in six of seven seasons, Working Mac was able to manage his time well enough to savor every tense-filled moment of those playoff runs, even though every one sadly ended with a loss.
Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner helped lead the Indians back to the post-season in 2007. By that time, Working Mac evolved an even busier species: Working/Parenting Mac. Unfortunately, one hat that I wore stayed the same: Disappointed Fan Mac.
Nowadays, I am Working/Parenting/Writing Mac. Let’s hope that this time around, Terry Francona and his squad can help all of us busy Cleveland fans drop that ‘Disappointed Fan’ label.
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