Major League Baseball

How to cope when your favorite baseball team stinks

Published Jun. 12, 2021 10:24 a.m. ET

By Jake Mintz
FOX Sports MLB Writer

Towards the end of May, my favorite baseball team, the Baltimore Orioles, lost 14 consecutive games.

It was a brutal, disheartening stretch that slingshotted the Birds all the way down to last place in the AL East and the worst record in Major League Baseball.

Baltimore’s mountain of woe in 2021 is by no means a surprise. Their ever-growing pile of losses is not a shocking phenomenon. Before the season, FanGraphs projected the Orioles to have a 0.0% chance to make the postseason, the only team with, statistically, no chance.

Loving a bad team isn’t always easy. There’s legitimate frustration amongst O’s fans and other rebuilding teams’ fan bases that have slashed payroll over the last few years. As a fan, it can be hard to emotionally commit to an organization whose leadership has not fully committed on a financial level.

But despite that warranted frustration, there is still joy to be found in the rubble of the losses and purpose to be had whilst dwelling in the cellar. But at times sifting through the unwatchable baseball to find the goodness can be exhausting and feel like a hopeless cause.

For more up-to-date news on all things MLB, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

As someone with ample experience in cheering for stinky ball clubs, I’ve picked up little tricks of the trade over the years that can make digesting loss after loss more bearable, and potentially even fun. Here are eight of them:

1. Don’t watch every game start to finish

This is rule No. 1. Look at me in the eyes my dear friend: You cannot do this. You owe it to yourself to be a happy and fulfilled person on this green globe. If your daily happiness is reliant upon whether the 2021 Pirates win, you’re probably going to have a tough time.

If your team sucks, I highly recommend finding another hobby or emotional outlet. Don’t leave them behind or anything, maybe just learn to knit or add a hockey team on the side.

2. Trust your MLB At Bat app alerts

Score alerts might not be for everyone, but I cannot tell you how much they enhance my Orioles fandom. If I see that the Yankees put up 39 runs in the first inning against Bruce Zimmermann, I can rest easy the remainder of the night and not worry about turning the game on. But if things are tied or at least close heading into the eighth and Baltimore has the top of the order coming up? I’m flipping the magic TV box on for that.

3. Know when to go to bed

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been faced with the following scenario: It’s 10:30 p.m. and my beloved Orioles are holding onto a slim lead in the late innings against a great team. The win probability charts say the Birds have a 55% chance of pulling out a victory, but the bullpen has been overworked so they’re relying on the B-squad, and the Yankees have Judge, Stanton and Gleyber coming up. That one-run lead might as well be an eight-run deficit.

In moments like these, sometimes I go to bed. I have no shame in admitting that. Maybe that makes me a quitter, a non-believer, a bad fan. But as far as I’m concerned when the lights go out and I enter snooze land, the Orioles won in seven innings. Ignorance is bliss.

This whole scenario is even harder for my better half, East Coast-based Mariners fan Jordan Shusterman, who has to make the same decision at midnight. You’ll be able to sense the wins from the losses in the fifth inning after a while. Trust your instincts. And go to bed sometimes.

4. Pick your spots, know your rotation

Knowing when to mentally check out is key, but knowing when to check back in is just as important. If your favorite club has one good pitcher — mine does, his name is John Means — you need to prioritize his starts, especially when it’s against a top team.

The saying goes: You’re only as good as that day’s starting pitcher. When your starting pitcher is easily top 10 in the league — FYI: my team has a guy like that, his name is John Means — then your squad has a real good shot that day.

A small warning: The days your ace starts will often be filled with comments from fans of opposing teams patronizing your team’s good pitcher. I’m talking, like, "that Jon Gray guy is pretty good" or "huh, JT Brubaker has some good stuff" or "Spencer Turnbull could TOTALLY be on the Yankees" or "holy crap John Means just threw a no-hitter."

5. Zone in on the one minor league team with all the prospects

This doesn’t apply to every single bad team, but it’s usually pretty relevant. Chances are that if the big league team has been enduring years of futility, the farm system has some promising talent in it.

And because organizations try and filter prospects up in waves to try and maximize the MLB club’s contention window, you’ll often see a gaggle of top youngsters move up the ladder together.

We’re talking Double-A Bowie for the Orioles, or High-A Everett for the Mariners. If you live within driving distance of one of these spots, it’s a must-do. If you don’t, maybe check in on the box scores a few times a week over your morning coffee. It’ll make you feel better about the future.

6. Celebrate every debut like it’s a big one

This one comes courtesy of fellow Orioles pain-endurer, host of the Locked-On Orioles Podcast and buddy of mine, Connor Newcomb.

Top prospect debuts are always some of the biggest moments of a season for a struggling or underwhelming team. Stephen Strasburg’s first career start back in 2010 for the 69-win Nationals was as iconic as it gets. Vlad Jr. coming up for the super-blah 2019 Blue Jays was must-see TV. Whenever Orioles top prospect Adley Rutschman gets the call, Birdland will be 100% locked-in.

But not every debut belongs to a top prospect, not every call-up story lives in the annals of baseball history. That shouldn’t stop you from celebrating the arrival of a new player, it shouldn’t keep you from getting excited about someone’s Major League debut.

Reaching the big leagues is near impossible (only 20,000 players have ever done it) and anyone who accomplishes that deserves recognition and attention. And who knows, maybe those middle reliever or backup utility infield afterthoughts will end up being a core component of the next good version of your team.

7. Invest in someone, pick a hill to die on

Though it’s worthwhile to divest from your team’s results for particularly tough stretches, you absolutely need to find a player or two to become "your dude." No matter how bleak things get, every single team has someone. Investing in a player or two could pay huge emotional dividends down the road and will also increase your enjoyment of the team in the short term.

Sure, it might feel a bit silly to be the one at the party chatting endlessly about how Carson Kelly is one of the top three catchers in baseball, and sure, no one will care or know what you’re talking about, but whatever, Carson Kelly is your dude. You have to let yourself believe in something on the big league team.

You can’t let your emotions hang on how every single hitter one through nine does every trip to the dish. But if you're absolutely locked in every time Kelly is hitting, you’ll learn the intricacies of his swing, his approach, his entire game. And in three years when the D-Backs are good again and Kelly is hitting walk-offs in the NLDS, your buddy will remember you as the Carson Kelly stan. That’s what we call fulfillment.

8. Remember everyone is trying their best

This sounds like some Little League, T-ball rubbish, but it’s super important to maintain a level head at all times. No one likes that person at the stadium screaming "YOU SUCK" at the player whose jersey they’re wearing.

Look, do you know how many limp Chris Davis at-bats I’ve watched over the years since he got Space-Jammed and lost his baseball ability? Millions. Well, at least it feels that way. But each time Davis swings through a slider 10 feet in the other batter's box or takes a grooved fastball down the pipe with the bases juiced and I want to toss my computer into a pond, I take a deep breath and remember that he’s trying his best.

Players hitting .150 aren’t waking up, making coffee and driving to the yard thinking, "I’m gonna go 0-for-5 today." They’re professionals, doing their damnedest to be good at baseball. Generally, it’s best to stay positive about the individuals, no matter how bad things get on the field.

And the same thing applies to you, dear friend, fan of bad team. You’ll be frustrated often, and at times potentially even ambivalent about your favorite squad, and that’s ok! It can be really maddening! But just do your best to look for the joy in it, if you can. I promise it’ll brighten your days.

Jake Mintz is the louder half of @CespedesBBQ and a baseball analyst for FOX Sports. He’s an Orioles fan living in New York City, and thus, he leads a lonely existence most Octobers. If he’s not watching baseball, he’s almost certainly riding his bike. You can follow him on Twitter at @Jake_Mintz.