Many people have many times pointed out the similarities between sports and real life. Pointing that out again here would hardly be original or interesting. Rather, lets take a moment to consider how the Phillies’ upcoming season illustrates this oft-worn comparison.

“Hey lady, I ain’t an athlete, I’m a baseball player.”

The Delaware Valley is finally beginning to thaw out from a hellacious winter that set records for low temperatures, snowfall totals and power outages. Not to be overly dramatic, but it took a fair amount of faith on a daily basis to get through this winter. Faith that the roof wouldn’t leak. Faith that the long branch of the white pine overhanging your driveway wouldn’t succumb to an inch of ice and fall on your car. Faith that the electricity was going to come back on right now. Or, how about now? No? Lets try that light switch again… No?

It’s that last piece of faith that is fairly analogous to the Phillies. Is the power going to come back on? Will the wins begin to accumulate faster than the losses? As the weather turns and snow recedes just enough to expose a few blades of grass, the last thing we want to do is fully embrace the idea of a losing baseball season.

And so, we try and have faith that Chase Utley’s chondromalacia will continue to be successfully managed. Faith that Ryan Howard’s power and some sense of the strikezone will return. Faith that AJ Burnett will keep the magic alive that he found in Pittsburgh. Faith that Jimmy Rollins will find inspiration from Ryne Sanderg’s management.

The same fortitude that keeps us shoveling day after day in the peak of winter is the same fortitude that makes us willing to buy into what Ruben Amaro, Jr. is selling. The difference is, we know spring and summer will come sooner rather than later and so it is easier to remain steadfast. Unfortunately, we don’t know that the Phillies will be competitive any time soon.