The Pecan Park Eagle

How do you boil a frog?

ANSWER: Never drop a frog in a pot of boiling hot water. He or she will reflexively jump right out and hop away.

Always place the frog in a pot of cold water and then light the fire, bringing the water to a slow, but sure boil. He or she will get used to the gradual change. By the time the water temperature has reached a good cooking boil, the frog’s goose will be cooked and dinner will be served.

And what does the story of the frog in boiling water have in common with baseball fans who are called upon to watch a 100 plus losses per season team finish last for several years in a row?

ANSWER: Just about everything.

The seasoned fans are like the frog dropped into the pot of boiling water. Because they know how the winning game is supposed to be played, the veteran fans will have short patience with “rebuilding logic” and soon lose interest in a club that cannot hit, run, throw, or protect a lead in the late innings. After a max-time exposure of no more than three years to dead weight losing (as the hot water), the knowledgeable fans will either pick another team or just go away to pursue some other precious pastime. After three years, there must be some measurable signs of significant progress, or all is probably lost.

The rookie fans are the ones who are most in danger from the slow boil of bottom-feeder losing. Because they don’t know any better, many of the rookie fans may just stay with losing as the way things are. That’s what the old St. Louis Browns fans once did. Former St. Louis Browns pitcher Ned Garver still expresses his gratitude to the small, but quietly loyal Browns fans with these words: “Our Browns fans would not think of booing our club in 1951,” Garver says. “They wouldn’t dare. – We outnumbered them.”

Some Cubs fans today have gone so long since they last won that World Series in 1908 that they simply expect a guy like Steve Bartman to show up and mess with any opportunity they next seem to have. How can you be a rookie fan to the Cubs experience and not be negatively touched by the idea that losing is normal? As someone who is not a Cubs-hater, I would really welcome some true Cub fan feedback on that question. As one who always has marveled at the curious heart and loyalty of true Cub fans, I would welcome some Cub fans feedback.

And now we have some more rookie fans in our own City of Houston. Somebody needs to tell them that what they are watching in 2013 at Minute Maid Park is not the norm for championship baseball, but that we are trying like crazy to be patient. –  If things are not radically better by no later than 2015, it will be time for Houston baseball fans to pick another leisure time killer.

I hear that dipping snuff is making a comeback, but you sure wouldn’t want to try that one in a pot of boiling water.