June 24, 2008
Back at the ballpark at 9 AM after a fantastic night in which the Cats clinched the first half championship with a 9-1 victory over second place Grand Prairie. With last night’s win, the Cats have won 28 games in the first half. The AirHogs have won 21 games. They have 6 games to play in the half, while the Cats have just five. Even if the “Hogs win all six of their remaining games, while the Cats lost all five of ours, they (Grand Prairie) would finish at 27-21, while the Cats would be 28-20… which means the Cats’ win last night was the “clincher”!
I was very proud of our team last night…. not just because we won the first half, but because they did so in a very professional manner. There was no big party on the field or in the clubhouse. Yes, they were very happy and there was certainly a tad more exuberance than a regular victory might induce, but they all know that this first half championship merely assures us of a playoff spot. There is a lot more to be accomplished if we are to defend our title as American Association Champions.
What makes me even more proud is the fact that our manager Chad Tredaway as well as six of our players and one batboy, are here bright and early at 8:30 in the morning to work with about 100 youngsters in our “Future Cats Training Camp”. Brian Fryer, Dan Grybash, Osiel Flores, Jon Hunton, John Allen and Tim Haines along with batboy Caleb Crossman were back at the ballpark working with youngsters on the field just hours after winning the big game last night. I was doing my walking routine around the warning track while watching and listening to the interaction of the players with the youngsters. You can’t help but be proud when you see how good these guys are with the kids. And the players I’ve named here this morning are not alone in this quality. We have many players who continually go out into the community and help with everything from clinics to school functions, parades and events of all sorts. Even during the off-season guys like Charles Carter and Lee Gwaltney are always ready to go when asked. This is also true of ex-Cats, beginning with our “vintage Cats”, Carroll Beringer, Mike Napoli, Jack Lindsey and Joe Macko, who stand at the ready to help in any possible way. They are joined by good guys like Terence Green, Jordan Foster, Pat Hannon, Kevin Hull, Ryan Weems and many others who make their homes in the area. These fellows understand that even though they are not in the major leagues, they are fortunate to have been able to play baseball at the professional level. They are humble and respectful, and make me proud to be a Cat.
Baseball is a very humbling game. I love the game for that very reason. It mirrors life more than any other game ever invented. I would like to share some of the reasons why I think it is the greatest game ever invented……
To begin with, like life, baseball is played EVERY DAY. There is little time to savor last night’s victory, because we have to play again TONIGHT! When the two teams show up on the field tonight to play one another, they will approach the game with virtually no thought of what was done yesterday. Yes, in the back of their minds they will remember mistakes during their at-bats, etc. because, like life, we learn from our experiences. But, as for the actual game… the slate is clean… what happened yesterday is over. They will play to win the game TODAY…. and that is what we learn in our lives. Lois and I went to see “Kung Fu Panda” last weekend. The old “master” character repeated a ”mantra” (for lack of a better word) which is one of Lois’ favorites. He said “Yesterday is history…. tomorrow is a mystery…. today is a gift…. that is why it is called the PRESENT!” Unlike other sports such as football, in which they seem to spend about three days hyper-analyzing the last game and then three more days hyper-analyzing the upcoming game, we don’t have time for that…. we’ve got another game to play TODAY!
Secondly, baseball is a “failure based” game. For example: A .300 hitter is considered a VERY GOOD hitter, but the fact is that a .300 batting average means that he gets a hit 3 times in every 10 at-bats… which means he FAILS 70% OF THE TIME. Why is this a good thing? Because, as I said, it is a humbling game just as life is a humbling experience. When a batter strikes out, he has to suffer the humiliation of walking to the dugout knowing that the entire stadium has watched him FAIL and that while some are sharing his disappointment, others are taking delight in his failure. Such is life. What does a baseball player learn from this aspect of the great game? He learns that there are always those who will encourage and support you (your teammates and fans) and there are others who wish you ill (your opponents and their fans). That is also a fact of everyday life. We have t o learn that everyone will NOT be on our side all of the time. It mirrors the spiritual battle of good vs. evil. But good will win out! Remember this fact: The great BABE RUTH is remembered for hitting 714 home runs. He is considered an American icon and his name is still known all over the world today, 70 years after his death. Many fans of the game can tell you how many home runs were slugged by the great “Bambino”.. the “Sultan of Swat”…. but hardly anyone can tell you that he struck out over 1,300 times…. YES, BABE RUTH STRUCK OUT NEARLY TWICE AS MANY TIMES AS HE HIT HOME RUNS. And that doesn’t count the other outs… ground balls and fly outs… just strikeouts 1,300 of them! So what do we learn here? We learn that our human nature is to delight in our success and the success of others and to forget our failures and forgive the failings of others. The great B abe Ru th had many faults, but yet people loved him and forgave him because it is our nature to place a premium on the good things and discount the bad. Just like we remember the three hits and forget the seven outs for our .300 hitter.
Finally, baseball is the greatest game because it is the FAIREST game. The primary element of fairness involves the lack of a clock. In almost all other team sports (at least the big four “clock” sports of football, basketball, hockey and soccer), the clock is a factor. The clock introduces an element of “unfairness” because the team with the lead can actually employ a number of strategies to “eat up” the clock. All of these strategies involve avoidance of play. In other words, stalling, which means rather than being forced to play the game and give the losing team an opportunity to come back and win, the clock allows the leading team to find ways NOT to play the game. That is why they eventually had to install the shot clock in basketball… to minimize, but not eliminate, this strategy. But in baseball, if a team has the lead, they still must give the other team an equal OR GREATER number of opportunities to play offen se. Thus, the phrase “The game is not over until the last man is out!” applies only to baseball. In some games, the team which is LOSING the game actually gets more at bats than the winning team. When a home team is winning, the visiting team may get 27 outs (9 innings) while the home team will only have 24 outs…. because we don’t need to actually pile on runs in the bottom of the 9th, do we?
There are many more anecdotes and detailed reasons why baseball is the greatest game. But enough about that…. tonight, the Cats will play the AirHogs and we will begin our preparations for the second half and for the playoffs!
GO CATS! JPD
