2021 Major League Baseball: Boo Hoo

 Last night, fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers had a mad, and then they had a sad.

Yup, the Astros won 3-0 over the "lily pure" Dodgers (the 'pure' Dodgers who have three players on their team that played for the Boston Red Sox when they were also caught stealing signs) and the fans were angry.

They threw things on the field, they used gay slurs, they used profanity. They pretty much went full Mexico soccer fan and idiots like Bob Nightengale and the rest of the MLB National media think this is just fine.

They think it's fine because the Baseball Writers Association truly believes that they are the gatekeepers of "true baseball". They believe that is is through their word processors, and only their word processors, that the ghosts of Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth view the game from whatever plane of existence they find themselves these days.

But, guess what?

The Astros think it's fine as well. They laugh at these stooges with their overpriced beers Hoovering hot dogs as fast as they can screaming with their mouth's full in bitter anger. Letting a group of people who have zero impact on their regular lives control their emotions to such an extent.

Then, they just go out and win, so far, this year.  Win to the point that they have the best record in the American League. Infuriating those who think they are "pure" ('pure' to the point that their staff ERA has risen since the dirty ball issue) go apoplectic with rage.

In a way, this is sports. "Fan" is short for "Fanatic" after all.  And to be a "fan" one must necessarily be blind to the faults of their team and cast blame everywhere else but internally for why they lose. For the fan, their HAS to be a bogeyman or the entire myth falls apart. Professional sports, specifically, rely on this.

When you think about it there is little reason for you to root for a team in the city you live. At heart, they are a private enterprise who just happens to call your chosen, or birth, city home. But sports franchises have done something brilliant, they have convinced communities that they are somehow part of a City's fabric like no other company is. They have convinced people that the team's success and failures are also their successes and failures, that who you are is wrapped up in how your team does.

When you look at it, it's all bollocks.  In Houston, the Astros, Rockets and Texans are no more representative of the community than are many of the large Oil and Gas companies that headquarter there, and the teams employ way less citizens, they contribute less to the local economy, and their vaunted charitable contributions are way less, although way more publicized. If the oil and gas industry crumbles then Houston as a city follows shortly behind. If the Texans, or Rockets or Astros crumble....few outside of those who work in the stadiums will be all that affected.

I'm sorry, this is just truth.

So, scream away Dodgers fans, vent thy spleens. At the end of the day you're probably doing the Astros more good than harm. You forget that these are, for the most part, wealthy players that could honestly give two shits about your beer-bellied bellowing.

You're an amusement, a source of income. Lose them or hate them you pay to see them.

And that's the bottom line.