www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, August 27, 2015 | 10 Catching Blue Jays fever can be bad for your health That's I Life can't watch. I can't help but watch. I can't believe -- because I've been burned too many times before -- and yet, I've gotta believe. I try not to get ahead of myself. But honestly, I'm not only ahead of myself, I'm beside myself. The Toronto Blue Jays, you see, are (drum roll, please) in rst place. For the rst time in practically forever there will be meaningful baseball in The Big Smoke in autumn. For the rst time since dinosaurs roamed Earth and Devon White roamed centre eld, the Jays are in the playoff picture. For the rst time since Joe Carter hit his historic three-run walk-off homer to lift the locals to their second-straight world championship nearly a quarter-century ago, the Jays may just nd themselves in the World Series. For a baseball junkie living north of the 49th parallel, these are heady times. They are also unhealthy times. My stress levels are through the roof. I'm not sleeping well. On a good day, I'm edgy, moody, distant, distracted, and grumpy (more than usual). Andy Juniper Guest Contributor Watching a pennant contender is sheer ecstasy, and sheer agony. On the edge of my seat, practically living and dying with each game, riding the roller coaster of every inning, hanging on every pitch, gnawing ngernails to the quick, ripping hangnails up to the second knuckle. Yep, this is de nitely a good news/bad news scenario. Since the all-star break, the Jays -- employing a potent mix of stingy pitching, acrobatic defence and jaw-dropping offence, led by MVP candidate Josh Donaldson -- have been on re. Since GM Alex Anthopoulos worked his trade-deadline magic, the team has been otherworldly. Oddly enough, as the Jays catapulted north in the standings, my health sailed south. To those around me, I'm seeming a lot like Bill Murray's character in the movie What About Bob? as I endure, for example, "dizzy spells, nausea, cold sweats, hot sweats, fever blisters, dif culty breathing, dif culty swal- lowing, blurred vision, involuntary trembling, dead hands, numb lips, ngernail sensitivity, pelvic discomfort...." All over the course of a single inning of a tight game. After a particularly bad loss, I visited my doctor who con rmed that I've got a bad case of Blue Jays Fever, and that these days the `Fever' is endemic around these parts. The doc suggested I take a few days off, just turn off the television and forget about baseball. But I can't. For the a cionado, a pennant race is all-enticing, all-absorbing. And for a sports guy -- a lifer in the world of athletics, who also happens to have baseball in his blood -- I'm acutely aware of just how ephemeral success in sports can be. One day the planets and stars align, the next day they fall from the skies. So, I ride this stellar rocket. I attempt to live in the moment and not get ahead (or beside) myself. I take it one pitch at a time. And I try to keep in mind the pennant race, for which I've been pining practically forever, should really be pure pleasure. Not pure pain. Hey, Toronto: your Blue Jays have been reborn. And their rebirth is killing me. -- Andy Juniper can be contacted at ajjuniper@gmail.com, found on Facebook www.facebook.com, or followed on Twitter at www.twitter.com/thesportjesters. Giving monthly is easy and cost-effective Oakville Hospital Foundation canvassers will be in your neighbourhood this summer raising awareness about our new Hospital and the benefits of monthly giving. Canvassers will accept donations on the spot using specially modified iPhones. This is a convenient and secure mobile giving method that helps us receive your urgently needed contribution as soon as possible. Join the Oak Leaf Society, our family of monthly donors, and help put essential equipment in the hands of our caregivers. Please call 905.338.4642 or visit us online at www.oakvillehospitalfoundation.com to become a monthly donor. A meaningful way to say thank you every month