Stephen King’s baseball fandom is well known. A fan of the Boston Red Sox in particular, and MLB in general, he has been known to incorporate pieces of the game in his novels. His tale The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon involved a young girl who used her hero, the closer for the Red Sox, as motivation to survive when lost in the woods.
Now King is living in his own personal horror story. Just like many of us, he is hoping that the league can get their act together so that we do not lose any of the season.
I need baseball!
— Stephen King (@StephenKing) February 16, 2022
Come on you guys, stop being stupid and make a deal!
Stephen King is all of us during MLB lockout
Sports have a way of connecting people from all walks of life. Complete strangers with vastly different lifestyles can bond together over a favorite team, sharing a beer at the pub while rooting on their players. Baseball specifically has a way of connecting generations of fans through the history of the game.
That is being lost in the lockout. The owners’ sole aim appears to be to break the Player’s Union, while the players are attempting to address competitive balance issues and improve compensation for those in their first few years in the majors. Clearly, there is a major gulf between the two sides.
This is leaving us fans on the outside, waiting and hoping that the two sides can figure out a compromise. At this point, we may as well be waiting for the sun to supernova and turn the Earth into a charred cinder floating through space considering how little interest there is in an actual negotiation.
With that being the case, we are living in a nightmare not of our creation. It is similar to a character in one of King’s books as they find themselves buffeted by outside forces they cannot control. For baseball fans, this is the equivalent of being in one of his novels.
Stephen King is just like the rest of us when it comes to the MLB lockout. He is waiting for the nightmare to end and the season to begin.