Hope Springs Eternal

In 1732 British poet Alexander Pope wrote, "Hope springs eternal in the human breast." Although baseball was not invented yet, he expressed the wishes of baseball fans everywhere at the start of Spring Training. We believe that instead of 'waiting until next year,' next year has arrived. This year our team will win. The young hot rookie prospects will be even better than anticipated. The veterans still have something left in the tank. The starters will throw shutouts. The closers won't blow any saves. Clutch hits happen aplenty. Our manager will be a genius. Hated rivals will collapse. Anything is possible, at least before the season starts.

And sometimes hope is rewarded.

There have been some fantastic turnarounds by teams from one year to the next. Who can forget the 1936 Boston Bees (AKA Boston Braves, Milwaukee Braves, and Atlanta Braves) who had one of the largest single-season improvements in baseball history? They improved by 33 games over the prior season. Unfortunately, in 1935, they had lost 115 games, winning only 38 times, the second-worst record in post-1900 MLB history. To change their luck, the team had fans select a new team name with Bees the winner. And it worked. The Boston Bees fantastic improvement moved them all the way from last place to 6th place, just 21 games out of first. And their ballpark was nicknamed the 'Beehive,' a pretty cool name.

The Arizona Diamondbacks seem to specialize in turnarounds. As an expansion team in 1998, they finished last winning only 65 games. In 1999 they went from last one season to first the next season (‘last-to-first’) with a 35-game improvement. The 2007 and 2011 Diamondbacks also went from last to first making them the only team to perform that feat three times. Hope certainly can spring eternal in the desert.

The 1969 Baltimore Orioles won 18 games more than the prior year. Unfortunately, they ran into the Miracle New York Mets, who had improved by 27 games and upset the Orioles in the World Series. 1969 was the opposite of hope for Cubs fans. That season that shall live in infamy, as the Cubs collapsed late in the season.

Talk about a seesaw. The 1917 White Sox won the World Series. In 1918 the team got worse by 43 games, as some of their stars, including 'Shoeless' Joe Jackson, were part of the WWI effort. With everyone back, the 1919 version improved by 31 games. However, after the Black Sox scandal resulted in the suspension of eight players, the 1921 team got worse by 34 games. Probably out of concern for their fan’s health, the team remained comfortably mediocre for the next 30-years, until the 1950s.

There is one team that has two turnaround seasons in the last ten years. I refuse to mention their name. For some inexplicable reason, their fans sing 'Sweet Caroline' every game. And they call themselves a 'nation.' And they play in a decrepit old ballpark that they think is quaint. But yes, in 2013 and 2016, the denizens of Fenway Park pulled off 'last to first' seasons, winning the World Series both times.  

I could go on and on. Virtually every team has had seasons where they improved by 20 or more games over the prior year. Yes, in some cases, they have gone from terrible to mediocre. But in others, they have finished first and gotten into the playoffs.

Perhaps Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard explained spring training hope best. After losing the 2016 wild-card game, despite an outstanding pitching performance, he tweeted: "Baseball has a way of ripping your (heart) out, stabbing it, putting it back in your chest, then healing itself just in time for Spring Training."