Matthew Taylor: On the tortuous nature of September baseball

My wife and I discussed pennant races Thursday night shortly after the Orioles dropped a disappointing 7-6 decision to the Rays. She concluded our brief conversation with this simple truth: "So they're fun when you're winning, but they stink when you're losing." Truer words were never spoken.

Moments later, the Red Sox completed a ninth-inning comeback versus the Yankees with a three-run walk-off home run, and I commenced an unmitigated assault on our defenseless bedroom pillows. Grown men are not supposed to act this way, but it's September and, well, they say baseball brings out the kid in you.

There's a famous quote that is often attributed erroneously and stated incorrectly. How's that for a lead-in? Anyway, it goes like this: "A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings." The quote has been credited mistakenly to Earl Wilson the baseball player rather than Earl Wilson the newspaper columnist. Meanwhile, the original words were actually a take on Little League baseball, with the latter Wilson describing parental angst over their children's performance as a "nervous breakdown divided into innings."

As long as we're content to let accuracy slide, I'd like to contort Wilson's words a bit more. Try this one on for size: "Late-season baseball games are simply a series of nervous breakdowns divided into nine innings." Spend an evening on Twitter if you disagree. Baseball-related anxiety is as abundant this September in Baltimore as the runners left in scoring position at Camden Yards on Thursday night.

Clearly, having something to play for toward the season's end is better than playing out the string. What is often overlooked, however, in the yearning for a successful team (see, for example, Baltimore from 1998 through 2011) as well as the nostalgia for competitive eras gone by is that a pennant race is torturous while it's actually happening. It's sprinting at the end of a marathon.

What's worse is that we now have it easy compared to years past, when fans not only walked uphill both ways to Memorial Stadium, but also had a lone postseason berth to wish for with nary a division in sight. The 1964 Orioles would like a word. They compiled 97 wins, tied for the second-most in baseball that season, yet finished third in the American League in an era when second place truly was the first loser.

I'll finish with another quote. In "Moneyball," Billy Beane states, "It's hard not to be romantic about baseball." I would argue that some nights it's easier than others. Just ask my wife.

Matthew Taylor blogs about the Orioles at Roar from 34. Follow him on Twitter: @RoarFrom34. His ruminations about the Birds appear as part of MASNsports.com's season-long initiative of welcoming guest bloggers to our site. All opinions expressed are those of the guest bloggers, who are not employed by MASNsports.com but are just as passionate about their baseball as our roster of writers.