There is still snow in piles in northern Indiana, but they're playing baseball in Japan. My family and I arose at 6am local time today to see the season opener for Major League Baseball which featured my beloved Red Sox beating the Oakland A's in extra innings in the Tokyo Dome. Evidently this is part of some marketing scheme to bring in more international dollars to MLB.
I have to admit that it seems a bit early for baseball to be going entering the official season. And I haven't decided yet how devoted of a fan I'm going to be this summer (though I'm not sure that we are always the agents of such decisions... more often we find ourselves engaged at various levels apart from any intentional choice). On the one hand, I won't be administrating any more this summer (which means I won't have to put on long pants every day and go to work), so there should be some time to devote to sport. But on the other hand, a writing deadline looms pretty large at the end of the summer, and there's not much of a margin for tomfoolery.
I'm also anxious to see how the whole world-champions-twice-in-four-years thing fits with being a Red Sox fan. Winning the World Series once was the incredible and unbelievable climax to the collective suffering of generations. But now it's almost old hat. The DNA of Red Sox Nation is changing. I haven't decided yet if I like it. It makes me feel pretentious... almost like a Yankee fan.
See you tomorrow morning at 6am for game two.
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