A young Pirates fan experienced the emotional highs and lows of baseball firsthand on Sunday – MLB.com

Baseball is a funny thing. 

Investing time, energy and focus on a given team or game can bring out the innermost emotions of fans. The seemingly arbitrary on-field events can hold especially powerful emotional weight for the supremely invested, something to which most young fans can attest. 

One young Pirates fan definitely can, and was caught on-camera riding the emotional rollercoaster in Sunday’s tense affair with the Nats at Nationals Park that was eventually won by Pittsburgh, 2-1, in 18 innings. Early on, with the Bucs up, 1-0, this young man was feeling pretty good, throwing around high-fives and being the picture of enthusiasm: 

But later, when Daniel Murphy  hit a pinch-hit, game-tying homer in the bottom of the ninth, his mood suddenly shifted: 

There was a third chapter to this saga as a result of he and his family sticking it out until the not-so-bitter end of the Pirates’ win. One that brought with it a whole new wave of positive feelings when Starling Marte hit a solo homer in the 18th:

Anyone who watches baseball on a regular basis and with a vested interest knows how frustrating and euphoric the same game can be, depending on what happens on the field. Feeling great one minute can quickly lead to feeling down and annoyed, all because a stranger hit a baseball in a certain direction. But hey, that’s sports. 

This little kid is basically a spokesperson for fans everywhere, so thank you, young sir, for representing all of us so perfectly.