Aiming for the perfect balance

A student-fan’s dilemma—balancing the demanding schedule of a Columbia student with the 2011 baseball postseason.

October is here. And with its arrival comes the ever-persistent struggle for Major League Baseball fans at Columbia: How to fit the precious moments of postseason magic into a hectic and overbooked student schedule. The debate over whether to read the entirety of Plato’s “Republic” or catch Game 2 of the American League Division Series echoes a sentiment shared by many at Columbia—the difficulty in deciding the place of playoff baseball in a sea of schoolwork. While I think a petition to outlaw midterms during the month of October would be ideal, it’s unfortunately unlikely to get approved.

Coincidentally, the student-fan’s dilemma mirrors one faced this past year by the MLB Special Committee on On-Field Matters. The committee, citing the importance of each postseason at-bat, elected to institute a new rule for weather-affected playoff games. Now, all suspended games will resume precisely where they left off. Previously, postseason games were treated the same as regular season games. If a game was rained out before the end of the fifth inning, it would start anew in the make-up game. In the busy and demanding 162-game schedule of the regular season, there simply isn’t time to resume every suspended game. Those past the fifth inning must count as a complete game, with the leading team getting the win. But Major League Baseball and Columbia fans alike understand the difference when it comes to the postseason: Time must be made to give importance to every pitch of playoff baseball.

This past Sunday morning put my baseball allegiance to the test as I lived out the Columbia student-fan’s internal struggle first-hand. I rolled out of bed around, as per usual, and figured I’d check to see how outrageous the prices were for the day’s Division Series Game 2 match up between the Yankees and Tigers. To my surprise (and my homework’s demise), I found $25 seats in a section that had been selling for $90 the night before. My voice not fully recovered from attending Game 1 on Saturday night, I made the choice to suspend my schoolwork—to be resumed precisely where I left off at the make-up date (which was that evening, up to and including the next morning).

Had this been a regular season game, my allegiance to my schoolwork would have to outweigh my desire to attend the game. (And I wouldn’t have been as devastated by the Yankees’ loss.) But this was no mere June or July game—this was October. When the 30th of September rolls around each year, the student-fan’s dedication to school and baseball alike are tested and tried. Which will reign victorious? The complete accuracy of a 1401 physics problem set or the witnessing of a Robinson Cano grand slam? The elimination of all grammatical errors from a Spanish essay draft or catching a moment of Yankees baseball on the quest to their 28th world championship?

A balance must be sought. Columbia baseball fans, I urge you to join me in paying tribute to your favorite team, setting aside a moment to enjoy the excitement postseason baseball brings in the midst of impending papers and midterms. I implore you to take advantage of the rewards October baseball brings to loyal fans. The playoffs and an obscenely demanding Columbia course load can coexist. (Although the two coupled with an attempt to sleep present a different challenge entirely.) So bring your CC reading and your laptop to your lounge, put the TV on mute, and experience the blissful combination of Aristotle and A-Rod. If you’re writing your essay in Butler, open a window on your computer and periodically check MLB.com’s Gameday app. Because the true Major League Baseball student-fan knows: October comes only once a year. Don’t miss it.

The author is a Columbia College sophomore majoring in environmental science with a concentration in sustainable development.