Blaise was the first pitch, thrown to the inside corner of the plate, and caught me looking. Looking up at the scoreboard, I saw the number "102" flash under the MPH sign. Gulp. Then, Thomas #1 came in like a fastball, forcing me to swing. But it was a slider and the bottom fell out of that pitch as I swung the bat. No contact at all. By this time, I was 0-2 in the count, and that isn't where you want to be as a batter.
Because being 0-2 in the count plants some serious seeds of doubt in your mind. Consider, when I first got up to the plate, I was convinced that the Catholic Church, er ball club, had not a leg to stand on. I knew, just knew, that I could handle any and every pitch that it threw at me.
But now I was 0-2 in the count, so I just did what I had to do. I choked up on the bat, determined to make contact. That is when She (they have females in this league) threw me the Merton pitch. It was a killer rainbow curve that caught me just like this one,
Wow. You don't have to understand the language being verbally spoken in that video, to realize that this was an amazing last pitch, now, do you? Watching that replay over and over again in my own mind, I knew there was only one thing to do; call my agent and beg him to trade me to the same ball team that these guys played for. Thankfully, I swallowed my pride and the trade worked out. And now, here I am playing on the same team with the legends of the game.
The interesting thing about this here ball club (metaphor alert! read "the Catholic Church") is that the players come from all over. That used to be unheard of in the big leagues at one time. Heck, some teams are still basically drawing their players from only one geographic area, or culture. But not this team.
Oh they tried that, early on, if you recall. Yeah, way back in the beginning when our first manager, a guy by the name of Peter, had it out with one of the star players on the squad, Paul. The row between these two in the clubhouse was about trying to make everybody who came from another place, fit the same exact mold of the original guys, even if they came from another culture altogether different. It's all right there at the Baseball Hall of Fame Archives Center.
Man, the dust must have been flying in the dugout that day. But the two agreed that forcing everyone to adopt the same cultural practices of the country that the original players came from didn't make sense because it wouldn't help them to win ball games. They knew that the only culture that really mattered, is the Team's culture. And our owners (there are Three of Them, though the uncanny thing is, They all think and act as One) take winning ball games very seriously.
I saw a story in the sports pages the other day that sounded like "Déjà vu, all over again" as another baseball great, named Yogi Berra, once remarked. A bunch of guys thinking that some people just can't play baseball. Period. Bats and gloves, and cleats are just too foreign to them, was the argument. What a load of hooey.
I mean, that just doesn't make any sense at all. Because as best as I can recall it, and check the Rule Book for me on this one, the Owners say everybody can play baseball. No matter who you are, or what country or culture you come from. Let me see...yeah, here it is. This is from one of the Owners,
All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:19)
That Owner, named Jesus? He came down and played ball with everyone at one time. He was a major "game changer" back in the day and as hard as this is to believe, the "old game" players took him out and killed him for revolutionizing baseball. But the amazing thing is, He came back to life (I told you He was a "game changer") and he gave us all that play above to carry out, right before he headed back to the Owners' Sky Box.
So let's go play some baseball, huh? Stop worrying about if some can play the game and some can't. Because it has been proven, over time that everyone can play on this ball club. And don't forget this either, have fun out there.
