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Tim Kabel

About the Off-Season: Stocking Stuffers

About the Off-Season: Stocking Stuffers

By Tim Kabel

December 25, 2024

***

So, this is Christmas? Because of the holiday, this article will be a little different. I know all of my articles are a little different, but this one will be even more different. I'm not sure how everyone is celebrating. Some, people have their family get-togethers on Christmas Eve and others have them on Christmas Day. Today is also the first day of Hanukkah. It is very rare that the first night of Hanukkah occurs on December 25th. It has only happened five times since 1900. The last time was 2005. So, not only has it happened more often than the Mets have won the World Series, but it has also happened more recently than the last time the Mets won a World Series. I wonder if Juan Soto factored that into his decision to bolt the Yankees.


I am celebrating Christmas Eve much like Bob Cratchit. My family has left me home alone like Macaulay Culkin. As I am currently homebound, my wife is spending the afternoon and evening with her family and my sons are with their mother. I am writing this article hunkered over a desk with a candle providing warmth and light. Later, I will have a light meal and some eggnog with the cats. That could well be the highlight of my holiday this year.


On Sunday night, I discovered that once again, my oven is not working. This is the third time since I moved here in February. In addition, because Sunday night was bitterly cold, the pipes under the sink in the kitchen froze, denying me hot water. I called the management office and informed them of these issues. The plumber called and suggested that I wait a while for the pipes to thaw. I asked if he thought spring was a reasonable deadline for this to happen. Eventually, the pipes thawed, and I now have hot water. My suggestion of putting insulation on the pipes so they would not freeze was not welcomed by the management. Instead, I have to keep the hot water at a trickle on particularly cold nights. As far as the oven, I am expecting a small gathering of people today and I have a delightful ham the size of a golden retriever in my refrigerator. I was promised by the management that I would be called by the backup appliance man this morning yesterday because the actual appliance man is on vacation. I was assured that not only would I be called in the morning, but that the repairman would come here and fix it yesterday. Well, in the immortal words of Gomer Pyle, “surprise, surprise, surprise.” I never received a phone call, and no one ever came. The management office is closed for the holiday. I now have to figure out how to cook that ham along with everything else I had to make. Perhaps I can suspend the ham from the ceiling over a candle. The only thing that makes me smile is the thought of the tsunami of sarcasm and vitriol I will be able to unleash upon the management office when they return giddy from their holiday festivities on Thursday. The expression “release the Kraken” is mild in comparison to what will happen. The cats and I will perform a haka when we speak to the landlord.


I have had some awful Christmases in my life. One year, a woman I worked with invited me to her house for dinner. Although we worked together, she lived in the Bronx, and I lived in Fairfield, CT at the time. After I made the journey to her home, I found that she and her roommate had just had a heated argument. Consequently, I was asked to wait in the car and received a meal to go. I suggested that she install a drive through window at her apartment. The next year, the same young woman asked me to go to dinner with her at her parents’ home in New London, CT. I wasn't working on that day so; I met her in Bridgeport, CT and drove her to New London. Once we arrived, I was asked to wait in my car while she prepared her father, who did not like gentleman callers. Disaster is not a sufficient word to describe that evening. Suffice it to say, that was the last Christmas I spent with her.


Although I'm extremely displeased with the management company that runs this apartment, this Christmas will not be a disaster. As long as I am with my wife and my sons, it will be a perfect day. The management firm will deeply regret the way they handled this once I am finished but, I will figure out a way to make it work. I learned a long time ago what is truly important about the holidays.


When I was much younger, a relative promised to get me a weight set for Christmas.  Instead, they gave me thermal underwear. They are both useful items but hardly interchangeable. Being young, I did not handle it well. My mother, rest her soul, took me aside and lambasted me. She informed me that no one was under any obligation to give me or anyone else a gift. She explained very carefully that gifts, no matter what they are, are to be received with gratitude and graciousness. It was a lesson I needed and one that I learned and took to heart. I now appreciate everything and anything I receive, even a kind word or a smile. I also take great delight in giving gifts. My mother and my father taught me many things. That was among the best lessons I ever learned.


When we are born, we are not guaranteed anything except an opportunity. Every single one of us has an opportunity. For some of us the opportunities come with a lot more work and sacrifice. Consider Jim Abbott. He seized the opportunity that was before him and became a Major League ballplayer with only one functional arm. No, he was not a Hall of Famer, but he was a Major League Baseball player who pitched a no-hitter. I think the secret to life is embracing the opportunities that we have before us and making the most of them. A friend of mine once said something that I have also taken to heart. It's simply this, “learn to want what you have instead of trying to have what you want.” By embracing our opportunities and making the most of them and finding joy in the littlest of things, we can have rich and full lives.

That philosophy translates to the world of sports and being a fan.


As we look at the New York Yankees and the team that is being constructed for 2025, it would be easy to complain about the Yankees’ failure to re-sign Juan Soto. However, I think it is better to look forward to the possible achievements from the team they are building. With Max Fried, Devin Williams, Cody Bellinger, Paul Goldschmidt, and whoever else they add, Brian Cashman is constructing a potential championship team. Yes, there are still moves to be made. Who knows if they will trade for Nolan Arenado or sign Alex Bregman or bring in someone else. Perhaps they will trade with the Phillies for Alec Bohm. We don't know what the Yankees will do. The point is that that we as Yankees’ fans should have a very good team to root for next year. They will have the opportunity to win the World Series. Will they? I don't know. I have long stated my doubts about their ability to do so with Aaron Boone at the helm but, they will have a chance.


So, enjoy your holiday. Merry Christmas, and Happy Hanukkah. (When a fat man with a beard wishes he will Merry Christmas, it means something extra.) Make the best of every situation. If you have to spend time with a relative or friend who annoys you, just think how much better it is than being alone, like so many people are. Have a wonderful holiday and get ready to have a very enjoyable season as a Yankees’ fan in 2025.

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