Al's Angle: A reminder that baseball and GT fandom isn't fair

As the dust settled on Georgia Tech’s 8-7 extra-innings walk-off loss to Oklahoma on Monday evening to end the Jackets’ season at the Atlanta Regional on their home field and extend the program’s Super Regional drought to 20 years, head coach James Ramsey summed things up the only way he knew how at the time.

“It’s a beautiful game. We love to play it. And sometimes it breaks your heart,” Ramsey emotionally remarked in Monday’s postgame press conference while being flanked on either side by his star juniors Drew Burress and Vahn Lackey, who very likely played their last games at Mac Nease Baseball Park at Russ Chandler Stadium in the gut-wrenching loss to the Sooners.

I’ll take it even further that Coach Ramsey…baseball simply isn’t fair and neither is being a Georgia Tech fan sometimes. Actually more than sometimes. It is a lifetime of heartbreak and disappointment that is sometimes broken up by short blips on the radar of joy. And that’s what makes the existence, that I know a whole lot about, so special.

Being a Tech Sports fan is not for the faint of heart. It takes a unique kind of human that has the right combination of grit, patience, tenacity, optimism and pessimism. I’m well-seasoned in it, as I know many of you who reading this are as well.

It isn’t fair that Drew Burress, one of the best players in program history, was powerless as all he could do was watch Oklahoma’s Dayton Tockey’s walk-off homer sail over the batter’s eye in center field.

It isn’t fair that Tate McKee, who laid his guts on the line all season and over the last two seasons, including coming back on Monday to try to close out the game after pitching a gem on Saturday night to get the Jackets to the regional final, made one mistake that Tockey turned around for the walk-off homer.

It isn’t fair that Mason Patel once again put the team on his back with a shutdown relief performance on Monday and couldn’t get the ball back out of his glove on what would have likely been an out, or at least a very close play at the plate in a crucial spot.

It isn’t fair that Parker Brosius got his best chance at consistent playing time late in the season, went on an unbelievable tear (10 homers in 24 days), including three in the regional, and saw the magical run and his Tech career come to a premature end.

It isn’t fair that Vahn Lackey put together one of the best seasons by a college catcher in recent memory, hit two of the most mammoth homers you’ll ever see in the first two games of the regional and it will be quickly forgotten because of the unfortunate outcome.

It isn’t fair that Ryan Zuckerman, Alex Hernandez and others in the lineup were done in by some of the worst high strike calls you’ll ever see by an inconsistent home plate umpire that seemed like he took pleasure in pumping that fist to the dismay of the home crowd.

It isn’t fair that Georgia Tech put together the best resume in the country, including the most top-20 RPI wins of anyone, and was forced to play as the designated visiting team in the final two games of the regional vs. Oklahoma despite being on its home field due to ridiculous NCAA rules.

It isn’t fair that Georgia, North Carolina and Auburn, teams that Georgia Tech defeated during the season, are moving on to play in Super Regional series while the Jackets’ players, coaches and fans will be sitting on their couches this weekend.

It isn’t fair that James Ramsey assembled a juggernaut of a team in his first season, brought in the perfect transfers to compliment the current roster, and simply caught some bad breaks to continue the infamous postseason streak that he inherited from Danny Hall.

It isn’t fair that Georgia Tech’s home crowds have been unbelievable all season and gotten behind this year’s team unlike any in recent memory and were once again left disappointed and heartbroken by the unfortunate ending.

Many more things could be mentioned that aren’t fair, but as mentioned above, baseball much like life and being a Georgia Tech fan, isn’t fair.

But you have to believe that all this is going to turn around for the White and Gold faithful one of these days. Specifically on the baseball diamond, that regional ceiling is going to be broken through one of these days. And it will probably come when we least expect it.

The heartbreak is still fresh I’m sure for the players and coaches, and I know the Tech fans are still feeling it a few days later. But brighter days are ahead. That’s what we’ve got to believe in at least.

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other, keep plugging away, continue to have faith in the process and the people that are making the decisions on The Flats. It will all pay off one of these days in a big way.