WHERE HAVE YOU GONE, JOE DIMAGGIO?

I love baseball, and most of the time, it loves me back.  There are certain times when I have to throw my hands up in the air and say, “Are you kidding me?”  One of those times is when a player catches a fly ball with one hand; another is when the center fielder sits down instead of warming up between innings.  But nothing tops the almighty, “I don’t have to run out a ground ball to the shortstop because I am going to be out at first, or I don’t have to run hard, I hit the ball to right field.”  Well, folks, I don’t know about you, but I expect a player to run hard, slide, and beat out every throw, or at least try. 

With ticket prices soaring, the economy plummeting and baseball salaries at an all time high, players are paid to run hard.  Just like I am paid to solve problems, develop business, nurture contacts, and run from meeting to meeting.  I am held accountable for everything I do, and my professional development plan dictates my goals.  If I don’t make my goals, I get reprimanded. 

On September 17, 1949, the Miami News published an article written by the Yankee Clipper himself, Joe DiMaggio, read HERE.  In the article entitled “Speed Is Not Everything on the Bases”, the legendary Yankee heralds that ball players “should run out every hit full speed even if it seems to be an easy out; it is sometimes as easy to boot big, hopping grounders and to drop soft flies as it is to muff the difficult put-outs.”  So, why then do we see Alex Rodriguez, today’s highest paid baseball player, jog to first, coast on fly balls, and show frustration when he just doesn’t hit the ball out of the infield?  If it is good enough for Derek Jeter to motor down to the first base with a bone bruise, it should be good enough for ARod or Robinson Cano or any other major league baseball player.

For ARod for example, this is a reoccurring trend.  Last year, right at the beginning of the season (Baseball Musings HERE), “Alex Rodriguez hit a ball off the wall to the right of center field for a double. Unfortunately, he thought it was gone, and wasn’t busting it out of the box. The ball got away from Jackson in center, and I’m thinking triple, but Alex just coasted into second. With the score tied at three and one out in the bottom of the sixth, it was the perfect time for a triple.”

And it’s not just Alex.  In August, Jimmy Rollins was hugely criticized by broadcasters and on Twitter following his “lack of hustle” (Read HERE) on a grounder hit to deep short stop, “Rollins was dogging it down the first-base line, and Reyes was able to field the ball with a foot on the outfield grass and flip it over to first base to get Rollins by about 20 feet. The TV announcers immediately commented on Rollins' blatant lack of hustle, as the lead off hitter was clearly taking his time making the 90-foot journey to first base.” 

Where did you go, Charlie Hustle?  We come to the stadium to cheer on our team.  We come to the stadium to see our team win.  We come to see our favorites hit the ball, field the ball, and wow us with their incredible athletic ability and competitive spirit.  But when you bring your 14-year-old son to the ballpark and watch with utter embarrassment as Jayson Werth sits on the outfield grass instead of warming up with his teammates, you just don’t know how to make that moment a teachable one.

 Why can’t all ball players today be like Joe D; with the spirit to win, the fight to run, and the belief that anything can happen.  As Joltin’ Joe said himself to a reporter back in 1951, “There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time.  I owe him my best.”

It gives me chills every time I read it.

--Suzie Pinstripe, BYB Opinion Columnist
Twitter: @suzieprof




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