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I went to my local café four days after the “so close but yet so far” World Series win slipped inexplicably away from the Blue Jays, just when it looked so joyously attainable.
When I asked the barista (a passionate Blue Jays fan) if she had recovered yet, she slid a napkin toward me noted with apologies that she had lost her voice. Due to screaming in ecstasy early in Game 7 or in agony at the end?
In cases of extreme grief, some can become mute. As a Registered Psychotherapist, I am here to offer free therapy for those so identified with the baseball team that they cannot “wrap their head around” the loss.
The most frequently used word for the Blue Jays loss is “heartbreaking.” By now, many hockey fans have developed the antibodies to losing, especially when it comes to Game 7s. Yet this baseball team was different. And no matter how thick the shield of cynicism guarding one’s heart, hopes are naturally raised by the time a Game 7 is reached. After all, through the ebb and flow, ups and downs, outstanding victories and crushing defeats, hope is of the essence—that it will all work out in the end. That is also a tenet of religious faith. As Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said in his post-Game 7 interview, it wasn’t part of God’s plan, with the implicit understanding that God’s plan is a good and redemptive one.
The clock struck midnight (EST) for the Cinderella team. Let us now examine the glass slipper she left behind and what Achilles heel might fit, given that mix of myths. The Blue Jays had made it thus far based on their identity as a never-quit, overcome-all-obstacles, team-first, all-in, all-heart identity. They represented old-time humanistic values in an era of mercenary motives. All close to home, in more ways than one. And the closest to home (plate) was Isiah Kiner-Falefa (the name itself having an archetypal ring to it) in the bottom of the ninth inning, with the bases loaded and one out. A fraction of an inch difference in that play at the plate could have/would have/should have won the World Series. On the deepest depth psychology level, it reminds us of how thin the line is between life and death.
It brings us to the underlying fear we have as humans, conscious of our vulnerability and mortality. All creatures live in the face of death, and the great unknowns associated with it. Yet we are aware of it. That existential uncertainty is a backdrop to the drama of our lives, and it plays out in the dramas of sport. Heroism and miraculous victories inspire us. And yes, hopes are also suddenly dashed in excruciating ways. As we get that emotionally involved, we also know that it’s “just a game.” Still, at the deepest ontological level, it reminds us that one mistake can make the difference between success and failure, between life and death. At any moment, it can suddenly be “game over.” Consciously or not, we all live on that edge.
How does all this apply to the Blue Jays? Well, in the aftermath of Game 6, Addison Barger (another archetypal name) was chastised for leading off second base to a fault and doubled off as a result. He was being too “forward thinking” on the base paths and suitably reproved for the mistake. Cue the fear of making the same fateful mistake in Game 7, with “IKF” not taking a big enough lead off third and then thrown out at the plate. What has that got to do with the thin edge between life and death? Are you playing to win or playing not to lose? It’s paradoxical. Live in fear of loss and you are likely to lose. Take risks, look forward not back, and then see what happens.
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