Baseball Fan Winter Jitters

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

by: Andy Zsiga @zsiga_andy

What is it about the end of January that makes baseball fans so antsy? 

It doesn’t matter what your team has been doing in the offseason, there seems to be a buzz for every fan.

I don’t know any Orioles fans, but I am pretty sure they are just as excited about baseball as Red Sox fans right now (sorry if that is you). Fans of teams with high expectations and fans of teams with tank aspirations can all agree that baseball is in the air. How is a fan supposed to deal with the "winter jitters"?

Remedies for these jitters are different depending on the state of the team you follow. 

The excitement of following a team who made it to the World Series the year before is different from the qualms of the fan whose team missed obtaining a winning record. The nervousness of a fan whose team was quiet throughout the offseason is jarringly different from the hopefulness of the fan whose team "won" the offseason.

What can you do during this time?

As a fan of a team in a somewhat precarious spot, I know I tend to check my dynasty fantasy league over and over again hoping for some sort of information. (My team needs several young guys to find their bats and three to four reclamation projects to work out in order to think about the postseason for the upcoming year) and waiting to hear something anything on Twitter about the year.

I am excited for the year, despite the near certainness of my team building for success in future years.  

The uncertainness of your team’s decisions wears off when you are at peace with the current direction of the players you follow.

This feeling of general excitement for a season is much better than the years your team spends big money on an older free agent or the years your team sits on its hands while it has a glaring hole in the pitching staff (substitute line up or any certain position). The speed at which we find this offseason moving combined with the pace at which we obtain information causes even more excitement.

Is there a way to combat the disappointment of knowing there is still so much time before real baseball?

How do you handle the ‘winter jitters’ and the urge to endlessly check every baseball site for something new?

Let me know in the comments below.