The Agony and the Ecstasy, as told by Batgirl.
The title of that recap of Game 1 of the Twins-Yankees series neatly summed up my feelings about the game because as I was at work and couldn't watch the game. As it turned out I couldn't listen to the game either as the company I work for recently installed filters on their proxy servers, thus blocking out the Gameday Audio to which I am accustomed. I was, however, able to get onto MLB.com's Gameday app and follow the game that way. So there I was for most of the evening, hunched over my desk at work with the vice-presidential debate as merely animated background noise, alternately clutching and wringing my Homer Hanky (2002 edition; I don't have a 2004 Hanky, I don't like the '03 Hankies, and I'm not bringing the '87 and '91 versions out of retirement), following each excruciatingly slow-posted update with a mixture of hope, dread and anxiety.
If every Twins game this postseason was like this one, I may not survive October. You see, while Gameday allows you to follow the games, pitch-by-pitch, it does not allow you to get into the flow of the game. So, if the cliché about every pitch becoming much more important in playoff baseball is true, then it becomes even more important when you can't see what's going on. In this manner tonight, I couldn't help but feel that the Twins were on the brink of disaster all night and there was no images or voices that could show me that everything was going to be all right. In other words, I was an emotional wreck. By the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Twins did win, but unfortunately I feel more relieved than elated. And I'll have to do this all over again tomorrow night as well; though I like the team's chances, I am already feeling the dread and angst build up again.
Thankfully, I should have Friday evening off so I'll be able to *see* Game 3 of the series. That is, if I last that long...