his parents and grandparents and just about everyone in the family believed in psychiatrists and for christmas they bought each other psychiatrist coupons. One kid they had in the family was named Harry and he became a fan of baseball when he was really young and no one knew how or why because no one in the family liked baseball, but Harry did and he knew all the teams and all the players and he had favorites and not favorites and he delivered newspapers for a living and lived at home with his parents so he didn’t have to make too much money and so he had season tickets to all 81 games and that’s where he yelled at players and some players laughed at Harry and other players got pissed off at him, but Harry felt better because he was getting all his stress and anxiety off his chest and so the family didn’t need to sign him up for a psychiatrist meeting and some of the family even started to watch baseball and see what it was all about.
brewers baseball and things 
April 12, 2024 at 7:31 am
Please subscribe to my blog
April 12, 2024 at 9:00 am
oh, boy: a family that gives each other coupons for discount psychiatric visits is a hoot. No wonder poor Harry seeks any escapism he can find. There are a lot of teams that could justify a “psychiatrist visit coupon day” promotion.
April 12, 2024 at 3:02 pm
I’m glad you got a “hoot” over the coupons Mark. I love that word – hoot.
Baseball involves so much failure. It’s a wonder there aren’t team psychiatrists and tarot card and palm readers. So many ups and downs. Players are incredible the way they endure it all. I guess beer is good medicine. Newspapers and books too and good old camaraderie.
April 12, 2024 at 2:16 pm
I like the idea of getting life’s ebbs and flow out of you by cheering and jeering at the baseball game. The psychiatrist coupons sound a bit dystopian. And stuffy and middle class. I am reminded of a line by Walt Whitman, “Dazzling and tremendous how quick the sun-rise would kill me, / If I could not now and always send sun-rise out of me.”
April 12, 2024 at 2:54 pm
I think maybe wrestling has the most exciting fans. It’s great to choose for one side and get out all those civil war ideas like have Trump and Biden get in the mud wrestling ring or like they have in Spain, that Tomatina festival where you throw tomatoes at people.
I know what you mean about stuffy and middle class. I’ve been trying to recover from it my whole life (shed the conservative thoughts) which is a struggle because on the one hand, I love my mom and dad very much, but on the other hand, I grew up in the suburbs of Milwaukee which was great but it was stuffy which made drugs and alcohol and baseball effective escapes as they still are. Thanks for the Whitman line. Interesting. I wonder what he means by “the sun-rise would kill me.”
April 13, 2024 at 4:33 pm
Wrestling would be a much better release for our problems. Wrestling really knew how to set up heroes and villains. I grew up middle class too. And rebelled with trash metal and getting in trouble. Those were my releases. I think Whitman meant, that the sunrise was such an experience to him, that he needed to release the sunrise from himself as well.
April 14, 2024 at 6:55 am
Yes, I like how you put that Bob, about wrestling – “set up heroes and villains.” It really is a great way to have fun with differences.
I’m glad we found releases from some of our upbringing constraints. Looking back now, there were a lot of awkward moments and at the same time I feel gratitude to those who opened up new ways for me.
Ahhh, the Whitman line. That makes sense. Thanks, Like it was so overwhelming and beautiful that he might explode.
April 13, 2024 at 12:22 pm
This actually happened to my mom. She started watching baseball in her 50’s (and only because she was in the same room with me as I was watching it) and now she hardly ever misses a game even w/o me being there. I think it’s kind of weird but cool at the same time.
April 13, 2024 at 12:39 pm
That’s awesome about your mom. Does she have a favorite team?
I watched some of the A’s game the other day and was blown away by a reliever whose name I can’t remember. Throwing over 100 with a wicked moving slider. I hope he stays healthy. I know it’s early, but I love that the A’s have a better record than the Astros.
April 14, 2024 at 9:47 am
Yeah you are talking about Mason Miller. The dude throws HARD and might be one of the best closers in the AL. He was hurt last year and I know these types of dudes get hurt a lot so fingers crossed I guess.
April 14, 2024 at 2:07 pm
I guess the sure bet way for a pitcher to stay healthy is to learn the knuckleball.