There are so many great lines in movies or just that have been spoken by people about baseball. And the crazy thing about it is that if you've played or enjoyed baseball, and I mean really enjoyed it, then you know them all to be true. And sometimes these lines can cut right through you when you think about them, and sometimes they put the biggest smile on your face. I think my favorite of all time though has to be the one that comes from a little known movie starring Tom Hanks you might have heard of it, A League of Their Own... "It's suppose to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard... is what makes it great." -Jimmy Dugan.
I remember being much younger than I am today when I saw that movie and I just loved it. I always hated the ending when the older sister lets her younger sister win, but as I've gotten older and my relationship with my sister has grown I totally get it. And I remember as when me and my dad talked about the movie he pointed out how much he loved that line. And how true it really was. And as a kid I was always fascinated by everything my father said to me but I didn't always understand. I didn't understand until I was older, until I'd been through the fire. Until I'd ran 9-5s until I puked or until I'd spent the day working on my change up grip only to still suck at throwing one. Or until you've been struck out on a slider 10 times in a row only to get that 11th slider and take it on a ride. That is when you know just how true that statement is. And you fall in love with just how perfect it is.
Now my baseball days are long gone now and around this time of the year I feel that great longing that I always do. The kind of longing that only a person that has been completely head over hills in love with something could understand. But I think about that statement all the time. And I miss the hell out of being on that field with a group of guys knowing that today you are going to win. I hope that everybody on this planet should be so lucky to feel that at least once in their life.
Of course you all you might be wondering why you are reading a sappy little love letter to baseball again this year, but it's not for all the usual purposes. I wanted to write this love letter to baseball because just a few days ago, Derek Jeter drafted a letter saying that this would be his last year playing professional baseball. And I knew this day was coming but let me tell you when I read that letter it all just hit me like a ton of bricks. Today will be the last year I get to watch my all time favorite baseball player. He is one of only a few athletes that I have followed his career from the very beginning to the very end. And there are so many great memories that I have of watching him with my father, and with some of my best friends. I can only begin to start to talk about how important this guy is to me, but before I talk about him I think it would be better to talk about baseball and what it means to me.
I know that saying this I'm going out on a bit of a limb here but you know what I'm going to say it anyway. Everything that I have in this life is because of baseball. That sounds a little dramatic and even as I write it now I sort of tear up, because I know it to be true. My dad always tells me about when I was younger, and how I had no problem hanging out with other kids, but I also had no problem being by myself. And that is a nutshell was who I was. I am and have always been a person very much in my own head creating my own world so that sometimes I don't need or have to be a part of this one. And back then and even today I haven't been the guy that goes into a room and lights up with confidence. I wasn't the guy that shined, but all that changed with baseball. Baseball gave me that group to be a part of and made me happy to be apart of it. And it gave me the confidence that only a person knows when you are really good at something and other people think you are good at it. It gave me something to work for and concentrate on and it gave me a group of friends to do it with. It also helped me to deal with failure, of which I have had quite a bit of in my life.
A lot of my best friends in my life came from baseball. And the thing about these guys I'm talking about is that I know that they would jump in front of a train for me, and I them. Of course not really because what kind of idiot would be on the tracks when the train was coming anyway, but really and truly they would. Because they have been there for me at some of my lowest points and they have been there with me at some of the highest. I've been in weddings and seen the birth of kids, hell I'm living in LA right now, right this very second writing this blog to all of you and for no other reason than the second year I was in college I met a catcher who later became my friend, and then became my roommate, and then became one of my best friends. And he told me to take a chance and come out here and he'd help me get started. And he did, and my life and the path of my life has been forever changed because of it.
I read a facebook post today that read, "how can you not be romantic about baseball?" -Billy Beane. And I knew I just had to write this post. I knew I had to pay tribute to my favorite player. Even though I know he'll never read this I wanted to write it all the same. Because Derek Jeter came around at a very important time in my life. I wasn't a child anymore so I didn't think of athletes like mythical creatures anymore, and I wasn't at the age I am now were I find it strange to be looking up to these athletes who are for the most part younger than I am. It was right in that age range were I could still be in awww of an athlete and look up to the kind of athlete and person that they are. It was right in the age range where I first started to realize just what it takes to become a professional athlete and what these people have given up and just how hard they have worked to do so. And he was my favorite. Because of course he played on my favorite team. A team that was my favorite well because it was my dad's favorite.
And all Jeter did was play the game in an ERA where, "chicks dig the long ball." and in an ERA where when things started he was the 3rd shortstop in line behind Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra. And at the end of the day he out shined them both. He played and became captain of the greatest team in the history of sports, playing in the city with the brightest lights that chews up and spits out most of the athletes that come to play there. And he never flinched once and has become the stuff of legends. I won't even go into the list of the girls that he has bedded down, because that in and of itself makes him a legend in my book.
I remember watching the 1996 world series when he was a rookie and they were playing the Atlanta Braves. I watched it with my dad. And I remember watching Game 4 when the Yankees won 8-6 in 10 innings. It was the game that I fell in love with baseball and it was the game were I first really saw that Yankee magic. They were down 6-0 going into the 6th inning. And as I watched as a kid it seemed like all was lost. Even after they scored 3 in the 6th. Then they score 3 more in the 8th and 2 in the 10th to win the game. I learned that day that it is never over in baseball until the last out. A lesson that I would re-learn over and over in my lifetime playing and watching this great game. Of course they went on the win 1-0 in Game 5 and 3-2 in Game 6 to win the series. It was Jeter's rookie year, and my dad told me there was something special about this shortstop and as a kid that looked up to his dad I believed him. And all Jeter did was spend the rest of his career proving him right.
I will spend this baseball season glued to the TV watching any and every game that I can. Following Derek Jeter's year and stats unlike any other year that he has played. I want to soak in year game and spend my time remembering a lifetime of happiness that Derek Jeter and the Yankees have given me. I tell people all the time that Derek Jeter is my favorite all time player. And I never hesitate to mention or bring up the argument that he is the greatest Yankee to ever take the field. And a lot of times people laugh at that because of greats like Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Lou Gerhig, and Joe DiMaggio. But I don't care, I say that he outplayed and out shined all of them and I will continue and always argue that he was the greatest Yankee of all time.
The man has 10,614(AB) 3,316(H) 525(2B) 65(3B) 348(SB) .312(BA) he is a 13 time All-Star, AL Rookie of the Year, 5 Gold Gloves, 5 Silver Sluggers, All-Star MVP, and a World Series MVP. He is the all time postseason leader in games(158) at bats(650) runs scored(111) hits(200) total bases(302) doubles(32) triples(5) and singles(143). The guy is a first ballot Hall of Famer no doubt about it and lets for just one second take a look at the list of women he has dated which make him a first ballot Hall of Famer alone in my book. Laura Dutta - 2000 Miss Universe, Jessica Biel before she was Mrs. Timberlake, Mariah Carey before she was Mrs. Cannon, Vanessa Minnillo, Vida Guerra, Jessica Alba, Minka Kelly, Hannah Davis, Scarlett Johansson, and Adriana Lima. Just to name of few of I'm sure the many women he has slayed over the years. So cheers to you "Captain Clutch" "Mr. November".
I guess I'm all done here. I've said just about all I need to say and then some. There is this thing about baseball that not even this blog will fully explain. It was my first love. It was my childhood memories. If by chance I ever get lucky enough to have kids and have a son, it will be the one thing above all that I will share with him. So I guess to some things up, really how can you not get romantic about baseball?
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