high jinx

Okay, it's been literally two years since I started this silly little thing. I promise it won't be another two before I write again.

Anyway, so today's post regards Major League Baseball, who are on my hit list right now. Just so you get the picture: The Mets are currently up by 2 games in the National League East, with the Phillies breathing down their necks and only about a week to go in the regular season. The not-so-Amazins have given up a huge lead in the standings over the past fortnight, and have been driving their fans insane with their shoddy pitching. So this morning, a colleague and fellow Met fan forwarded me this and this.

Yes, that's right, folks, Major League Baseball has decided that the Mets are going to win the division and have already started selling the shirts! If that's not the stupidest thing I've ever seen out of the MLB then I don't know what is. Sure, you can make your shirts nice and early so you can have them ready for purchase not two seconds after the team in question has clinched. But to make them available for purchase when it's very possible that the team may not make it at all? I dare say (as do many of my Met fan friends) that the MLB has officially jinxed the Mets and if there were any last hopes of them making the playoffs with a week to go, they have now officially gone the way of the dodo.

Even worse: There's no one to complain about it! I spent 10 minutes looking for a "comments" or "questions" form or customer service email that I could mouth off to in protest. Here's what I found. Looks legit, right? I figured, at least someone will hear my frustration, even if they don't change a thing. I got my friends to write to them also. About an hour later, I recieved a response. That was quick! Well, of course it was: it was automated. The MLB's question form is never seen by human eyes - you can complain to your heart's content and no one will ever see it! Gee, thanks MLB. You guys are truly going the extra mile to make sure the average American baseball fan is screwed in every which way possible. Jinxing your teams and abandoning the fans: a combo made in business school heaven.

UPDATE: Well, the jinx and the collapse are complete. You suck, MLB! Interestingly, a fellow Mets fan friend tried to order one of the shirts, just to see what would happen. His order was essentially kept in preorder status until the day after the Mets blew it, at which time he received an email stating that the shirt was no longer available. Well, I've read up on cases like this; the tees are no doubt on their way to a small town in a developing country where few from the developed world ever step foot. Oh, well, there's always next year. ∞