As she got older, she began to understand the game more. Losing seemed to give her a bit of clarity on it. When you weren’t waiting for the long ball and anticipating your ace to strike out the next batter in a crucial situation, you noticed the smaller things. You noticed how some catchers are better at pulling a ball back into the strike zone than others. You notice how outfielders position and reposition themselves from batter to batter and even pitch by pitch. You notice the way certain pitchers shake off their catchers. You notice how a batter adjusts his stance a little when they have two strikes.
As she got older, and the lost games, lost series, lost seasons began to pile up, it seemed to mature her as a fan. They caused her to look at the game differently, to approach each strike, out, hit, and inning individually, instead of as a whole defined merely by whether you could chalk up a win or a loss. It became obvious in a lot of the seasons that the team was more likely to lose any particular game, and while she hoped for the win, she knew what the inevitable outcome was going to be. So she learned to love each moment of the game. She learned to love each fielded ground ball, long drive, and innings with long rallies.
As she got older, she became more mature as a fan. She soon realized that rooting for a winning team was easy. When things are going your way, it is easy to stand up and root for your team. Losing made her a better fan and she began to wear this as a badge of honor. When the team was failing, she took more pride in sitting through the games with her father. She now understood why he stood up and clapped as the world collapsed around their team. He appreciated a rally and an effort regardless of results.
Abigail also knew that when the team started winning again, it would be all the sweeter.
Standing at Third 
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