Dear Linc,

YEAH!

I found out about you guys winning last night when I was running down Van Ness Avenue in my beauty-is-pain dress shoes. (Everyone who sees them is flabbergasted that I can “afford” them. In fact, I can — because they were 15 bucks at Crossroads.) Two middle-aged women were waiting for a crosswalk light to change and I was hurriedly on my way to the Herbst Theatre after I had to high-tail it back to the store because I forgot something important. 

“So they won?” said one of the women.

The other nodded and smiled an older woman woman smile that must accompany her when she offers desserts to her grandchildren. “Took them ten innings, too.”

“Yikes,” said the other, who was clearly impressed but with only half the enthusiasm, I suspected, of a fan or a native. And I was right about her not being local. She said: “I’m visiting. In New York, the game has constantly been on everywhere.”

Back at the Herbst, I relayed the news to my boss and we high-fived.

Did you read that, Linc? I HIGH-FIVED WITH MY BOSS. You few, you happy few, you band of brothers better win today, I swear. (Hunter Pence’s Shakespearean pep talk has gone viral. And who high-fives with their boss unless their hometown baseball team’s  glory brings them together across the boundaries of employer and subordinate?)

Sadly, while you guys were out winning in Cincinnati, not long after my Carrie Bradshaw moment I was slipping and sliding off a steep learning curve. Ah, I won’t get into the details except to say Lesson Learned. These bigger events still trip me up but I’m hoping that toward the end of the month I’ll be golden for the rest of the season. What happened last night involved me overlooking a crucial step, and I know why it happened: I was too busy being nervous. I’m still not used to certain parts of my job. Luckily, after work I unwound with Spencer, who for a time was a librarian for the city, and Clara, who worked her way through college as a stage manager. If you ever wanted to have an idea of the kind of work that I do, just imagine a cross between a librarian and a stage manager. It’s a strange and lucky thing that I ended up with friends who worked those jobs. I’d have never suspected that their friendship would come in handy for making me feel better one October night in the baseball postseason of 2012.

Joe