The magic of October

There are a lot of reasons for which I love the month of October. My friends often refer to it as "hoodie weather." For much of the month it is too cold to go outside without a sweatshirt but not cold enough to warrant a heavy coat. Then there is the obvious chlorophyll shift that can be seen wherever nature can be found. At the end of the month, children wear goofy costumes and eat candy while slightly older children wear goofy costumes and become intoxicated. My favorite part of the month, however, is postseason baseball.

As I am writing this, the Los Angeles Angels just took a 3-2 lead over the notorious Bombers of the Bronx in the 11th inning of the second game of the American League Championship Series. I'm not really a fan of the Angels, but I've loathed the Yankees for as long as I've known the sport. In the National League Championship Series we have the Dodgers, also of Los Angeles, going up against last year's champion, the Philadelphia Phillies. I am not a fan of either of those teams, but I want to see the Phillies lose. I find that I have suddenly become a fan of LA by default.

Even though I don't really like any of the teams remaining in the playoffs, the games are still fun to watch. The teams that I hate are undeniably good. Right this second, like, this happened right after the last sentence that I typed, Alex Rodriguez just launched one over the right field wall to tie the game at 3. I find this much more suspenseful than any suspense movie could be.

I'm used to seeing my teams lose, be it through bullpen disasters or late-season collapses or just plain awfulness, such as both of the teams I've called my home team. When I was a young child I was a fan of the Baltimore Orioles. They have not had a winning season since 1997. In 2005 the Washington Nationals moved here from Montreal and became my home team. They sucked in Canada and they still suck. I initially disliked the Yankees because they were in the same division as the Orioles, making them rivals of sorts. In 2000 they faced the New York Mets in the World Series, so because I wanted the Yankees to lose I wanted the Mets to win. They are the closest thing to an "opposite" team, and they were actually good. It felt nice having a good team to cheer for, so I considered the Mets one of my favorite teams throughout the decade. After several years of playing quality baseball and a trip to the NLCS in 2006, the Mets have been pretty disappointing as of late. In 2007 and 2008 they were in first place in their division until completely falling apart towards the end of the season and losing their playoff spot to Philadelphia. That's why I hate the Phillies, by the way. So anyway, my point is that I've grown quite accustomed to watching my teams lose, yet for some reason I still love watching it happen. There's always that chance that one pitch, one swing of the bat, one bobbled catch, or one errant throw will completely reverse the outcome of the game.

And that is what I love the most about October. I could go on about it, but instead I'm gonna get horizontal on my couch to enjoy the remainder of this game.