Tough to Rally Back From

I first became acquainted with my friend the Rally Monkey the fall of 2002. I was freshly home from my mission and enjoying baseball for the first time in two years. The Angels were a scrappy team that year and many of their victories were come from behind wins. The secret was of course the Rally Monkey. The little guy inspired the crowd and was a big part of our home field advantage. The crowd gets so pumped when he comes up on the jumbotron at Angel Stadium. We ended up winning the World Series in no small part due to the Rally Monkey.

Just this past weekend the Red Sox felt the wrath of the Rally Monkey, leading Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia to remark:

"The first night a lot of things didn't go our way, and yesterday was a two-run game and then it finally seemed like we were going to break through there," said Dustin Pedroia, who had seven of the 19 Red Sox hits in the series. "Then they get back-to-back doubles and they just had all the momentum. They put that damn monkey (The Rally Monkey) on the board and the place went nuts."

The little guy was a in rare form and all was good in Halo Heaven. But then the recent turn in the economy was felt close to home. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bga4vLTOJ4U

His livelihood and purpose in life lost, the little simian took it very hard. Sensing that things would not be the same he decided to end things. What made it all the more ironic, he did it during the all star game.

It is all a bit sketchy as I was not actually there. I was notified by my roommates Dan and Jim that the little guy could not be stopped. Before they knew what was happening, the chair was tipped and it looked like the RM was off to the big banana tree in the sky.

My roommates claimed they tried to stop him but that seems a bit suspect, especially considering the fact that they are Yankee and Rockies fans respectively. I came home to the following horror seen.

What they hadn't counted on was the resilience of this little guy. He rallied back from the great beyond. By the next day he seemed fine. In fact I found him the next day just chilling in the living room. It looked like everything would be all right. But things were most certainly not all right. I was informed that another "incident" had occurred. Again I wasn't there to see exactly what happened. The roommates again claimed it was an accident. Regardless of the exact nature of the event, the Rally Monkey was down, at the hands (although it doesn't really have hands) of the Swiss exercise ball.

Luckily I arrived in time to save him but he was injured. He was in a lot of pain. But like before he rallied back. It was his identity, he had to come back. But with that a dark side developed. After the hanging and the Swiss ball, he was in intense almost constant pain. He did what many proud individuals do, unable to admit he needed help, he self medicated.

I have to admit that by this time all the warning signs were there. But I was unable to accept them. I could not admit that my dear friend, the symbol of all that is good in America's national pass time was a stoner (Rex Hudler may have had something to do with this). Sure, I wanted to believe they were clove cigarettes, and that it was just a young monkey sowing his wild oats. You all know the follies of youth. Looking back I was wrong. I was in denial as much as the Rally Monkey himself.

I thought it was just a phase. In fact the next day I came home and it really looked like the little guy had turned the corner. I found him on the couch studying the scriptures. Things were looking up, he had admitted the existence of a higher power and I thought he was turning a new leaf.

But as quickly as things improved, they went back to the same pattern of addiction. This time he was battling the pernicious evil that is alcohol. And he was doing it right in my face. And for some unknown reason he insisted in doing it in 3D. Talk about insult to injury. As much as I hated to admit it I knew something had to be done. Changes had to be made.

Jim and Dan were the first to approach me about the idea of the Rally Monkey going to rehab. I'll admit that at first I didn't think it was necessary. And the RM wanted nothing to do with it (http://youtube.com/watch?v=LD5sahXoj0U) I was hesitant to get on board. Yet I knew that my friend was on a dangerous path. After careful consideration we realized we only had one choice...Rally Monkey Intervention.

It ran the gamut of emotion for everyone involved. The little guy was a shell of his former self. I was distraught, Dan angry, Jim confused and scared.We tried everything we could to get him to see the error of his ways. My emotions were pretty raw. Dan even threatened physical violence. It wasn't looking good. Jim and his mighty beard were troubled. We all were.Finally a break through. I bottom lined it for him. I told him that so far the Angels are having a great season, the pitching and defense have been spectacular, K-Rod has been amazing, and the bats are coming around. But come playoff time we are going to need you little Rally Monkey. It truly was rally time. He decided he was going to go to rehab and get himself right mentally and physically.

We packed his bag and sent him on his way. He was going to get the help he needed.

Needless to say it has been an emotional time around 3076. Feelings are raw, and adjustments are on going. But all signs point to a full recovery. In fact the Angels had a come from behind victory today. GO HALOS!