Think of team sports in terms of races.

Football is an all-out sprint. 16 games leaves little margin for error. A bad start could easily doom you to miss the playoffs.

Basketball (ICK!!!) and hockey are the middle distances races, about 80 games each. Not quite the short sprint, but still not a marathon. You need to start fast but still have endurance for the long haul.

Baseball is a marathon. 162 (160 in PB) games means steady wins the race. The initial burst of speed helps, but endurance wins the race.

Hope this puts the bad start by your guys into some perspective. Otherwise, GameBoy (or whatever video game you enjoy) is a perfectly acceptable substitute. Hope you stay on, since you do sound like you are a student of the game.

~ Bill