I have a curse, but I got great CWS seats

College World Series: Beavers/Eaters
Do you want to know something crazy? In all my years as a lover of college baseball, I had never made it to a College World Series game. Only once have I even been in the city of Omaha during the series, and I didn't go to a game then because my dad had just had major surgery and was in the hospital, so we watched all the CWS action from his room.

I finally did get to go to tonight's game. I originally thought I wouldn't be able to make it to any, but Dad provided funding for tickets for my brothers and me. I wasn't sure I'd be able to do all the walking, but with the help of a crutch I think I made it all right (I'll know for sure tomorrow how bad all the walking was for my stubbornly still-swollen ankle).

Aaaanyway, I said in the beginning that Oregon State was "my" team for this year's CWS. I wanted a team that came out from the woodwork last year to do it again. How cool would that be? But Irvine has really grown on me, with all their extra-inning heroics and fantastic team chemistry. So by the time I actually got to Rosenblatt, I had no idea who I wanted to win that game. (As an aside, I'd like to thank the people who didn't sit in their reserved seats so that we could. Right behind the OSU bullpen, maybe 10 rows back, excellent seats for the GA price!) After all the fighting that UCI has done so far, I was not entirely surprised that this was a lopsided game (in Oregon State's favor, in case you hadn't heard). There comes a time when even the hottest team has to run out of gas.

I guess that means I will go back to my original plan of rooting for Oregon State. Go Beavers!

The Supernatural in baseball
I'm a huge fan of superstitions in baseball. I have lucky shirts, lucky pants, even lucky unmentionables. (Oops, I mentioned them.) I do rally caps, I don't talk about no-hitters while they're in progress, I don't leave games early. I believe a game's first pitch shows a lot about how the game will turn out, I don't like to miss the starts of my teams' games. A win isn't complete until the last out is made; you will never hear me say "Our boys have got this one in the bag." I respect almost all players' decisions regarding hair and beards, as long as it helps uphold a good streak or banish a bad one. (I say almost all players because I still can not force myself to look at Scott Spiezio. Yuck!)

So I should know better than to talk about how the O-Royals could have moved into 2nd or even 1st in the PCL American North or how Fernando Cortez had hits in 8 consecutive plate appearances.

I think I may have cursed Cortez and the whole O-Royals team when I said those things. A few minutes after the post about Cortez, he was up to bat and didn't get a hit. And once the O-Royals started that series that I said would be so pivotal in moving up the ranks...they didn't do so well. Since that time, Nashville has been winning, and has edged Iowa for first place. Meanwhile, Omaha has slipped to 8 games out of first (still in third place, and still better off than they were in past years at this time).

If I had kept my mouth shut, or my keyboard untouched, or whatever, could Omaha be doing better? Maybe my words have the opposite effect of the Midas Touch. Everything I touch with my words turns to poo. However, the opposite is not true. If I bemoan Kansas City's struggles, they don't turn around and start doing better. But if I proclaim the wonders of a good week, they immediately get on the field and lose.

Maybe someone should pay me to keep my mouth shut about these things. :-(