Thursday, October 16, 2008

Goodnight, sweet Manny, goodnight.

Turn out the lights on your season, and dream of contracts yet to come.

As I was driving to work this morning, delighting in the fact that the Phillies are headed to the World Series, I realized something. This whole Manny situation, at least for me, has been handled in a very ex-girlfriend sort of way. You know the way.

You're seeing some guy (Manny), and know things aren't going great, but you're hoping that all the drama will settle down and you can go back to the good old days (any year before this one and after 2000). Seven years of your life have been invested in this man's happiness. Then comes the fight. He admits he's been cheating on you, so you throw him out of the small, lyrical bandbox of an apartment that you've shared for years. He moves in with his new flame (the Dodgers). No matter what you do, you see him everywhere. Relatives, friends, and even idiots (the media) are always talking about him... "It was for the best." "He had to go, there was no reconciling this time." "You don't need him. You're better off without him." And then you meet a new guy (Jason Bay). He's nice enough, but he's so soft spoken, sometimes you forget about him because everyone is still talking about your ex.

You miss your ex. You never wanted to break up, but it happened, and you're still not sure why. You're convinced you could have worked it out, but he was gone before that could happen. You want to be mad. You want to blame him. If only he had just waited it out! You would have let him go after the world series. You would have allowed him to walk away with just a few tears. Instead, a bitter anger still mixed with love remains. You fight yourself over whether or not you wish him happiness. When you see him happy with his new flame, it kills you a little inside. Why couldn't he be that happy with you? But you still can't quite hate him.

In the end, you don't want him to be doing better than you, but you want him to at least be happy. So you have to cuddle up with the new boyfriend, and learn to move on.

Be happy, Manny. I still miss you. I swear, I'm trying to move on.

As for one Jason Andrew Varitek... I'm terrified that tonight may be his last game in a Red Sox uniform. I always knew this day may come, but I know I will cry (I'm big on crying, apparently). I shed a few tears on Trot's last day. That was bitterly painful. This day might be just as bad, if not worse. I'm gonna be ready for it. I'm TiVo'ing the entire game, and I will eventually transfer it to DVD and save it so when I feel nostalgic, I can look back and remember the Captain that stole my heart

I won't lie, today's game scares me. I'm not ready for it to be over. I want more... need more. I need a win tonight. So I'm holding my breath and praying that our guys find their bats. Don't let this be Tek's final curtain call without a fight. I'm not ready to let go yet!

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