“People ask me what I do in winter when there’s no baseball.  I’ll tell you what I do.  I stare out the window and wait for spring.”

~Rogers Hornsby

It usually happens to me the first week of November when the really cold air starts to move in and the winds from the north strip the trees of their final leaves:  I begin to cope with the fact the baseball season is over.

Sometimes in the summer, I have the TV on, not really watching a game, but enjoying the background noise the sounds of a ball game provides.  The rhythms and cadence of the game are there, even when I’m not paying attention.  In the winter, the TV is usually off in the evening.  What am I going to watch or have in the background that is as warm and inviting as a ball game?

I have contemplated canceling my subscription to the local paper.  The articles are all online and my favorite baseball writers all post their best stuff on blogs anyway, so what’s the point?  For some reason, I keep coming back to the box scores.  Why does that matter?  I don’t know.  But there’s something comforting about starting the day with a cup of coffee and seeing everything laid out in front of me… The standings, the day’s pitching match-ups and yes, the box scores.  It’s nice having them online, but it’s not the same.

It’s all about the routine of summer.  And if you’re a baseball fan, you’re a fan of routine.  You can’t follow a team for six or seven months, through spring training, 162 regular season games and if your lucky the post season, without developing some habits.  And when the season ends, it’s jarring.

Thankfully, there are plenty of diversions.  The GMs are meeting in California.  Next week the hardware will be distributed for Rookie of the Year and Cy Young awards with the MVPs named the following week.  Then there’s the Hot Stove to carry us through December and January.  And before we know it, pitchers and catchers will be gathering in Florida and Arizona.

I can’t wait.