That's life (That's what people say)

 19 November 2024 

"That's life.That's that people say". "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." "Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug.""Every 24 hours the world turns over on the guy who was on top of it yesterday". 

These are all phrases which sometimes define what we as carbon-based life forms deal with on an a regular basis. I have a story that bears them out. If I could have your attention for a few minutes.........

I reached the complex this morning and did something which I had never done before, I visited the trainers room. I'd passed through it on the way to the hot and cold tubs, but this time I actually ended up on a table for the first time in my tenth camp week. I was having some tightness in the right side of by back. Head trainer Vanessa saw me and used the pounding gun on the area. When that was complete I felt rejuvenated. Next up, a little breakfast.

Today was simply bacon, toast and orange juice. From there it was to my locker to put on the road grays for game 1. Our opponents were 0-2 as well when the game started. Tied at one headed to the top of the sixth our bats came to life at this time. I had walked in the second inning and stroked a single to left in the fifth only to be stranded each time. We pieced together a rally in inning number six and I doubled the two runs we scored in the frame. I had made a couple of nice defensive plays in the early part of the game. The best being an unassisted double play off a liner by J DeRosa on a well-hit ball.

Our 3-1 lead quickly evaporated as the All-Time Crashers rolled a 7 and took an 8-3 lead into the final inning. I was due to bat 9th in the 7th inning, not figuring that I would even get to the plate, but that's the beauty of this game.You just never know.  A walk, a hit by pitch and two singles later brought yours truly to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. The crashers had changed pitchers and I was facing a new pitcher for the first time. I recalled, in the on-deck circle, the words of my late personal friend Kirby Puckett. He said that often in a clutch situation he thought of the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz. He said that the lion needed, "C-cccc-ccc-cccc-courage! And that's what he had to have at the plate. So I took that thought to the plate, as I blew a bubble with the half pack of Big League Chew in my left jaw. I got a good pitch to hit and laced a ball just inside the left field line headed for the corner. As I rounded first and headed for second realized that they were still chasing something into the corner. I thought "are they chasing a squirrel or something?" then I touched second and headed for third where I knew a close play was about to take place. I was called safe on a debatable call and we were ahead 9-8. 

The bottom of the 7th was tougher than I'd hoped. I thought it would suck to have pieced together possibly the best game at the plate in my MFC career (probably EVER, for that matter) only to lose the game. When Junior Parenti squeezed the final out I was very relieved. I thanked my little Bella girl who I know was cheering for me from above and went to exchange hugs and handshakes with my teammates. I was awarded the MFC-OMG award for the game and I was pretty much on Cloud 9, as they say. I figured this was my best opportunity to call it a career and retire for life. But, I love this game (that and we need every player we have to finish this week), so I changed my mind on that. It was a fantastic game not only for myself but for my team, which I want to help as much as I can. They're a great group of guys. 

Game two, unfortunately didn't go as well. The magic in my bat turned to fairy dust and my glove turned merely a Macy's bag at one point late in the game as we fell to the Hackers 8-5. 

It's a humbling game, people. A team game comprised of individual battles which play out over a course of seven innings. The only game where the team scoring does not possess the ball. It is unique in so many ways. And I have loved it my entire life. 

Baseball players are a superstitious lot. Many of us have superstitions. I like today that I'm not superstitious, but I'm a little-stitious. So tomorrow I will try to duplicate everything I did before game one today. The training room, breakfast, putting on my uniform the same way, etc. It might work. It might not. But I know that the odds of going walk, single, double, triple IN THAT ORDER is probably not gonna happen to me again- ever. 

As for now I'm gonna reflect on the day just a little longer before I turn out the light in my hotel room, because as I get older I realize that these moments will be fewer than ever. Because as Kirby also told me before he passed, "Tomorrow isn't promised to any of us".