The search for the appropriate amount of mad

Being a Dodgers fan and having a lot of Dodger-related people I follow on Twitter can be a conflicted experience.

Take, for example, tonight. Jake Arrieta thoroughly dominated the Dodgers, no hitting them. It was the second time in nine days the Dodgers were no-hit.

On the one hand, I understand it’s just one loss. I understand intellectually that the team still won the series and didn’t lose any ground on the second place Giants, who also lost today.

When reading Twitter, I see a lot of the people I follow try to tell the world to chill out about it. People I really like and respect are basically downplaying the whole thing, reminding us that the playoffs are a crap-shoot, the team is still in first place, and that the Giants weren’t even in a postseason spot last year at this time.

They both would count as one loss. https://t.co/ZWiiBHgXfW

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 31, 2015

It was mildly pleasing to observe this random non-predictive statistical abnormality beep boop beep I have no soul

— Old Hoss Radbourn (@OldHossRadbourn) August 31, 2015

Every other team that has been no-hit twice in this time frame or shorter has won the World Series. Promising. https://t.co/EKQfFKLYjq

— Chad Moriyama (@ChadMoriyama) August 31, 2015

Being no hit sucks, but at the end of the day it's just a loss. Move on

— Eephusblue (@EephusBlue) August 31, 2015

To Dodger fans wanting everyone fired or DFA'd after tonight: Jake Arrieta is one of the best pitchers in the world right now. Chill.

— Molly Knight (@molly_knight) August 31, 2015

Here’s the thing though. I want to be a little mad about it. As a fan, I think I have the right to be a little mad about my team being no-hit once, let alone twice in nine days. While it’s “just one game” in the middle of the season right now, “just one game” in the playoffs can make all the difference. Just one at-bat in the playoffs can change a single game. In the playoffs, a single game is a big enough sample size to make a big difference. This wasn’t the playoffs, but aren’t we all affected by what we see in front of us?

Shouldn’t I be a little unhappy as a fan that, against a really good, playoff-caliber pitcher (or a guy like Mike Fiers), there isn’t someone who can scrape together a good at-bat?

I am a big proponent of advanced statistics, but at some point it has to add up to something more than a team that can win the National League West and get bounced out of the playoffs by a team with more moxie, or ability to play in the clutch, or whatever you want to call it. While advanced statistics tell the story, the point of them is to win a World Series in the end.

Just for tonight, I’m going to allow myself the guilty pleasure of caring about the ability to hit in pressure or clutch situations. I’m going to allow myself to say “that sucks” when a team I root for seems to wilt offensively before my eyes.

My point is that the Dodgers were missing something tonight. They were missing something nine days ago. Maybe they’ve been missing something all season. Hopefully they’ll put it together and get off their World Series schnide this year — you better believe I’m rooting for it to happen — but it definitely doesn’t feel like it right now.

Which brings me back to my point. As a fan, I’m going to let the season play out. I’m going to stay reasonable. I’m going to truly believe that they can do it, right up until the end.

But I’m also going to allow myself to be a little mad about it tonight as a fan. Because what happened tonight — that’s not it.

What is the appropriate amount of mad in this situation? Maybe it’s different for everyone. I won’t judge you if you share your sports-anger experience and comment below.