There's nothing quite like being a sports fan to help induce mood swings on a regular basis.
It's hard to think of anything else in daily life that can cause you to go from being an optimist to a pessimist and back again than watching your favorite team.
Need proof? Look no further than the pro baseball teams in our fair state.
To the rest of the country, you can look at the standings and see the St. Louis Cardinals with the best record in baseball and the Kansas City Royals with the best record in the American League. So things must be good, right?
It depends where that mood swing has swung.
Let's start with the Cardinals.
• That league-best record - The optimist: "This team knows how to win and does things the right way." The pessimist: "They can't be this good, not with that lineup."
• Carlos Martinez, who left Friday's start after just seven pitches and will miss the rest of the season due to right-shoulder strain - The optimist: "He's only 24, he'll bounce back." The pessimist: "Great, he's breaking down and he's only 24."
• Tommy Pham, who before going 0-for-4 Friday night with four strikeouts, had been hitting a league-best .412 since Sept. 15 - The optimist: "How great is it to have a rookie like him? He's never even been considered the best outfielder with the guys in the minors." The pessimist: "This is the beginning of his slide, it's all downhill from here."
• John Lackey, he of the 16 quality starts in 16 appearances at Busch Stadium - The optimist: "With a home ERA of 1.97, we've got an ace at the top of the staff." The pessimist: "Great, now we have to manipulate our rotation to make sure he only pitches at home in the playoffs."
• Yadier Molina, the superstar catcher with the slight ligament tear in his left thumb - The optimist: "He won't need surgery, we'll get our leader back soon." The pessimist: "Great, if the injury lingers, we're stuck with Tony Cruz."
• Adam Wainwright is getting closer to returning after rupturing his Achilles tendon in April and could pitch in a relief role during the postseason - The optimist: "The last time Waino was a reliever was in 2006. You know what happened that year, right?" The pessimist: "Remember last year when we used a starter in a key relief appearance and Michael Wacha blew that game against the Giants?"
I could go on, but let's look at the Royals.
• The Royals clinched their first division title since 1985 with a win Thursday against the Mariners - The optimist: "What an accomplishment. It's the first step on our way to a championship." The pessimist: "We didn't win the division last year and made it to the World Series, so let's not get complacent after doing this."
• Closer Greg Holland will miss the playoffs due to a ligament tear in his pitching elbow. The optimist: "We've got a great replacement in Wade Davis, and Kelvin Herrera is a great setup man." The pessimist: "Before, it was just a six-inning game, because we had the seventh, eighth and ninth covered. Now, who's going to make sure something bad doesn't happen in the seventh?"
• Kansas City is just 9-15 in September - The optimist: "Who cares? We were bound to have a little hiccup after playing great for five months." The pessimist: "Here it is, the beginning of the end."
• Jeremy Guthrie, last year's starter in Game 7 of the World Series, has an 8.07 ERA since the All-Star break - The optimist: "He wasn't going to pitch much once the postseason got here anyway." The pessimist: "Our options are shrinking - that's one less pitcher we can depend on."
• Midseason pickup Johnny Cueto got the win in the game that clinched the division title. The optimist: "That's why we got him from the Reds." The pessimist: "It's about time he did something, he was 0-5 in his previous six starts."
In what will come as no surprise to anyone who knows me, it was infinitely easier for me to play the role of the pessimist in these examples. Where do you fall?