THE AGONY OF IRONY

This is a feeling I am sure most of us experience on a fairly regular basis as we navigate through the mysteries of life. It is that shift in emotion from a plain indifference towards anticipation for something good to happen which turns into frustration as time passes on and finally culminates in abandoning all hope and calling it quits. But then comes the killer! The much awaited event or outcome materializes but alas we are no longer there to witness it, enjoy it, feel it, live it or be a part of it. The only thing you can do is to feel happy that it happened. But the irony is that you were just a minute or an hour or a day short of experiencing it. And the agony is that you spent hours, days, weeks or months waiting for it to happen!

Well, by now you would have guessed that I was a recent victim. I am not a baseball enthusiast, but in the middle of a devilishly crazy work week, I will gladly take that. So here we were, on our company afternoon outing, in Chicago downtown to watch the Cubs play the Giants. Okay.. for the benefit of people like me, Cubs are the hosts and the Giants have come all the way from San Francisco. The Giants are the better team and defending champions and the Cubs are a good team too.

I had reason to cheer very early in the game as a run was scored and I was really happy that the Cubs had taken the lead so early. After about 2 minutes of cheering I noticed that the scoreboard seemed to suggest that in fact the Giants had scored. Well.. you can’t blame me. The noise was close to deafening when the run was scored. Either the audience was really sportive or extremely sarcastic. Either way, I wasn’t too upset as I got to see a run scored. And I was hoping to see an equalizer from the Cubs to make the match exciting!

But I was in for a lot of disappointment and eventual boredom as hours went by without any hint of either team scoring. A game has 18 innings (9 for each side) and sitting through 16 of them without seeing a single run getting scored was painful to say the least for a first timer. But I spent the time well, as my good friend Melvin explained me the rules of the game with some tips and fun facts. He is from Dominican Republic and a very nice guy. I learnt that baseball was the most popular sport there and a lot of baseball players in US are from Dom Rep. I gave him some cricket gyan in return and that kept him fairly excited.

Come last inning of the game: and guess what: The Cubs equalize. And I get to see the other highlight of baseball: a home run! The guy just creamed it. The stadium erupted! Now you may ask: “Okay.. so where the hell is your agony?” Relax guys… I am almost there. Now the game is tied. And I think naively that the points will be split. Melivin enlightens me: “The game goes on until a team wins”. Well.. now all my excitement fizzes out. Now I might again have the predicament of watching endless innings without any run scored!

And I did! Another 8 innings went by and everyone got restless. Our team was aiming for a 5 o’clock return. We were about to leave when it happened. Yeah… the smart ones, you guessed it right: The Giants scored! 2 – 1 Giants with 1 Cubs innings to go. Well, that seemed like the nail in the coffin and we had all the more reason to leave which we did.  I guess my story has become predictable now. So, as you may have guessed, I came back to office and casually checked the scorecard.

It read: Cubs 5 – Giants 2

What on earth happened? How come they score 4 runs in the 1 inning which I missed and just 2 in the 25 I sat through? That is some irony with a lot of agony! Probably less for me and more for the other baseball enthusiasts in my group. Anyways, that was my first major baseball experience. A mixed bag really. But nevertheless good fun and a little bit of agony! Sums up life, doesn’t it??