Pennant Race How-To

Jason Michael Barker

Is there anything better than your team being in a pennant race? Wait, don't answer that -- sure there is, but this is a baseball site with a PG rating. Back to baseball!

Is your team in a pennant race? Perhaps this is your first pennant race. That's understandable, particularly if you're relatively new fan or you live somewhere like Chicago, where the White Sox haven't won a division title since 1993. Even then they won the American League West (remember when there were only two divisions in each league?) by a comfortable eight games over the Texas Rangers.

If you've only recently (post-1996) jumped on the St. Louis Cardinals bandwagon, you're probably used to the Astros running wild over the NL Central and haven't really experienced a pennant race either. Even fans in Arizona aren't fully familiar with a pennant race, having won the NL West by a full 14 games last season.

As a service to our readers, then, here's a handy guide to enjoying your pennant race. Feel free to print this out and save it "until next year," Cubs fans.

#1: Go to the games.

It sounds simple, but really, the most important thing you can do during a pennant race is get yourself (and your family, friends and co-workers) to the ballpark. It doesn't matter if you buy $5 seats in the outfield bleachers or $35 box seats 15 rows back of third base, just buy your tickets and watch some baseball. There's no good reason a team vying for a division title shouldn't be able to fill the park most nights of the week.

If your team is in town, head down to the park and be part of the walk-up crowd. If your team is on the road, check the schedule and buy advance tickets for as many games as feasibly possible, paying particular attention to "big" series. Live in Seattle? Get those tickets now for when Oakland comes to town (September 21-24). Assuming the games aren't already sold out, fans in Arizona should be buying up tickets to the final series of the year, when the Giants come to town for a three-game set that could decide the division.

There's nothing worse than a contending team drawing 15,000 fans a game (ahem, Oakland-ites), and you've got no one to blame but yourselves. Fill the park!

#2: Make some noise.

You've made it to the game -- great. Your job is not complete, however. Don't just sit there on your hands, passive and oblivious to what's going on. If the opposing pitcher gets into trouble, toss a jeer (or at least some distracting noise) his way. When your club hits a grand slam homer, leap up, exchange high-fives with your buddies, and let out a good yell.

At the Seattle-Detroit game Monday night, Willie Blair was pitching a shutout through five. As Blair took the mound in the bottom of the sixth, I stood up and yelled, "Hey Willie Blair! You're not this good!" The Mariners promptly scored three runs in the frame.

If your team has a viable Most Valuable Player candidate, try to get the "M-V-P! M-V-P!" chant started when he comes to the plate.

These are just two ideas -- you surely have some of your own.

#3: Don't get complacent

Your team's four, five or six game lead at this point in the season is nothing -- don't think you're going to cakewalk to the post-season without a fight. To quote an old NBA cliché, "everybody makes a run" -- don't think the club chasing your favorite team is any different. By the same token, don't give up if your team is still four or five games back... just keep telling yourself that they haven't made their run yet.

No matter what your team's situation, for the love of all things good and pure, by no means should you go about calculating the so-called "magic number." It seems innocent enough, of course, but there is perhaps no bigger jinx than spouting off about how the number is "down to five" or "just two!"

#4: "Enjoy the enjoyment."

After the Mariners took three out of four from the White Sox, Mike Cameron was quoted as saying he wanted to go "enjoy my enjoyment." Whether or not you agree with his command of the English language, the message is clear: Above all, enjoy the pennant race, particularly if it's your first, as subsequent runs just won't be the same.

Finally, try to keep an even keel when it comes to wins and losses. It's perfectly acceptable (in fact, I encourage it!) to live and die with your team, but if you act as if each win was the seventh game of the World Series and each loss was the end of the world, you'll be emotionally spent before the playoffs even start.

Is it true that Jason Michael Barker has been btiing the heads off the chickens he shouldn't be counting? Why not ask him yourself, at jmb@strikethree.com.