Now that the December holidays are over are you finding yourself feeling the absence of baseball even more keenly? The days are short, the temperature is low, and Opening Day seems ages away. What’s a fan to do? Make the best of a bad situation with the following steps.
1 – Relive the good times: Ignore the snow swirling outside by drawing the curtains and turning off weather alerts on your phone. Pop in a DVD of one of the World Series (I’m partial to 2007, but 2004 and 2013 are nice too). If you have MLB.TV you can re-watch the best games of the 2014 season. Check out June 1 (Lester Ks 12 Rays), August 26 (extra innings excitement in Toronto), and September 27 (10-4 win over the Yanks).
2 – Explore a new medium: We typically experience baseball by watching live television (0r in person). Broaden your horizon by checking out a movie you’ve never seen (be honest: there is probably at least one that you’ve been pretending to have watched), read a book (Faithful, Now I Can Die in Peace, Can You Believe It? just to name a few), or check out a scripted TV show (30 for 30 “Four Days in October,” Cheers “Bar Wars” and “Now Pitching: Sam Malone,” Family Guy “The Old Man and the Big ‘C’,” and Wings “Blackout Buggins”).
3 – Distract yourself: Maybe it’s time to finally join a gym, learn a second language, or take up a new hobby. I mean, there is life outside of baseball. Now is the perfect time to focus on that part of life. Ok, I know that isn’t going to happen. I just thought that I should mention it as an option.
4 – Give into obsession: There is no point in pretending we aren’t thinking about baseball. So we might as well go all in. Been meaning to repaint the bedroom? Benjamin Moore has the paint collection for you. Does the yard need a little sprucing up? You might not be able to get to work on it right now, what with the frozen ground and all, but it’s not too early to draw up plans for a mini Green Monster or for a flower bed shaped like a B. Does your car have enough Red Sox bumper stickers? That’s a silly question. Can one really ever have enough?
5 – Prepare for 2015: Begin the countdown to the season. Weeks, days, hours, minutes. Download the Red Sox 2015 schedule into your calendar app of choice. Buy tickets if you can. Circle the dates of “big games” on the calendar.
Settle in for some long winter naps full of dreams of sunny days at Fenway Park.
Truck Day: February 12
Pitchers and catchers report: February 20
Full-squad workout: February 25
First preseason game: March 5
Opening Day: April 6
Home opener: April 13