I’ve decided I’m going to be a San Diego Padres fan. I now live a few blocks away from Petco Park, and it just seems like a fun thing to do.
I’ve shared this with several friends and they’ve informed me that I’m pretty crazy.
Why?
Well, to put it bluntly. The Padres are far from baseball’s greatest team. According to ESPN.com today, they have 0.2% chance of going to the playoffs. Yep, less than a 1% chance of making it. We’re at the All-Star break now and my new team is just a handful of losses of being completely out of any form of the playoff picture.
And yet, there will still be a season to go.
But I’ve decided I’m going to be a fan. I just bought season tickets for next year, and was able to get tickets for a few more games for this season.
…and I’m loving it.
Yes, the team loses more games than I’d like, but the victories are so sweet.
Last Thursday, my fiancé and I attended the game against the Reds. It was an interesting meeting between the two teams. Each team’s starting pitcher pitched for the other team the previous season. Several of the Padres players were traded from the Reds in that same deal. Cincinnati was doing well, and the Padres (although in the middle of a winning streak) were still close to being the last place team in all of baseball.
The Reds led for most of the game.
Then, in the bottom of the 8th, the Padres pinch hitter hit a tying home run.
One inning later, I’m standing on my feet cheering loudly with the rest of the stadium as saw the Padres win with bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. It was a wonderful celebration. It was a tough game and they fought hard for the victory.
It was the first of the four game series and that sixth win would be be the longest of the Padres season so far–they lost the next three games.
But I’m a fan, and I love these mini-celebrations.
Why do I write this?
Because I think that a lot of us get discouraged because our own club or group is not the “World Series” contender when compared to other clubs or groups within our campus or organizations as a whole. We feel discourage. We might have only 0.2% chance to be the “best” group, but we still have some chance.
And even if we don’t “win” the year as a whole, we can have victories along the way.
In other words, we need to celebrate those things that go right. Those little improvements. We can’t all have the Yankees payroll, but we can do great things. And we need to cheer on those victories.
I don’t want my Padres to give up just because they can’t get to the playoffs, and neither should your group.