The Enemy of My Enemy...

You know that guy or gal you kind of knew. He/she was a friend of a friend, so you would run into him every now and then at parties. You never had a long conversation because he always came across as an ass. Maybe he would hit on the girl you had your eye on, or he really disliked that movie you love. Over time he becomes a sort of rival. You begin to even maybe really dislike the guy. Then you out of nowhere you find out something about him that changes your mind. He has something in common with you or has a shared experience that causes you to rethink your opinion of him. Maybe he’s not that bad. Actually he seems to be a pretty good guy. This happened to me Monday night while I watched Game 5 of the Astros against the Cardinals.

Being a Cubs fan, I’ve had my share of pain. The 1984 and 2003 NLCS being two prime examples. So when Eckstein hit that 2 outs, 2 strikes squibber past 3rd, my heart sank. I have seen this before. The crowd that hadn’t stopped cheering or sitting since Berkman’s HR in the 7th suddenly didn’t sound so confident. I knew what every Astro fan was feeling at that moment. Then Lidge lost his command and walked Edmonds. Yeah, I definitely knew this feeling. I held my breath when I saw Pujols stroll to the plate. I cringed when I saw Fox put up the Pujols graphic showing he’d never hit a HR off Lidge. That was always a bad sign. I almost couldn’t watch. “Don’t let this happen. Don’t let this happen.” I thought. Lidge threw a nasty slider and Pujols missed and missed badly. A small exhale. Then Lidge hung the slider. The crowd went eerily silent as they saw the ball fly off the bat. Lidge went into the fetal position, as ball cleared nearly everything in Houston. At least it would have if the roof weren’t closed.

My heart sank. Not for the Astros, but for the fans. It sucks being that close and having your heart ripped out. This has happened to them before, but not in a fashion like this. Cub’s fans knew this pain and Red Sox fans knew this pain. I couldn’t even watch Sportscenter knowing they would show that HR again. I couldn’t watch the soulless Cardinals show no emotion again. In one moment I saw myself in Astro fans. In one moment I didn’t dislike the Astros. I found myself hoping they would pick themselves up and perform their own comeback in the bottom of the 9th. It never happened.

Now the Astros have to go back to St. Louis and win one game. They have two chances. Pick yourselves up. Don’t be the Red Sox of 1986, the Cubs of 2003, or the Angels of 1986. End your drought. I hope you do…this season. Next season your back on the enemy list.