LESSONS FROM THE ZOO

It seems that the argument has been around since humans were able to verbally communicate. Were times tougher then or now? Were people stronger then compared to now? Is that generation tough, while this one is weak?

The questions get posed and the answers come rapid fire…but who is actually right?

Could an overweight, orphan kid from Baltimore who became the SULTAN OF SWAT hit a dead, red heater from a guy known as THE CUBAN MISSILE (who once touched 105mph)?  The truth is we don’t really know…we guess. Short of Doc Brown showing up with McFly and the Delorean, that’s all we can do.

In this awful crisis I continue to put life squarely in the spectrum of baseball. This pandemic feels like slump we can’t shake. I mean sure, we got an “oops excuse me” knock yesterday, and seem to be seeing the ball better, but we want that 4 for 4 game with a dinger and 5 RBIs…it’ll happen.

The back of our baseball card will show up. I was lucky enough to experience a bit of the infamous Bronx Zoo years. Yes, I was a little kid, but I remember those guys so vividly. They embodied New York in the 70s. They were a snapshot of the city decked out in Pinstripes…and they were straight up animals.

When I think about Boonie telling that ump last season, “MY GUYS ARE SAVAGES IN THE BOX!” I chuckle a bit.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Aaron. His guys are tough customers in the box…but they ain’t savages like the Yanks from the Zoo. That's the truth! With all their quirky disfunction and infighting, the Yankees of the late 1970s were a magical team. They just wanted to fight for every single win.

They gutted it out day after day and night after night. Thurman, Reggie, Mick the Quick, Catfish, Goose, Nettles, Lou, Gator…they were just what we need today. Guys that didn’t win pretty. They weren’t manicured like ARod. They didn’t have personalized spikes…hell, even the field at the stadium was in rough shape…but they played through it all with fire.

THEY WERE TOUGHER Than our current generation of players.

Image Tex walking into the clubhouse to tell Billy, “Hey, this hangnail is really messing with my swing from the left side. I’m gonna sit tonight.” Martin would have bitten his finger off…not to mention his head.

We are in a spot now where we need that gritty Bronx Zoo head space. It sucks, but we play to win. We’re hurt, but there’s a game to win. We’re down…but we never stay that way. America IS the Bronx Zoo.

We don’t get along all the time. We believe that we are the individual that “Stirs the coffee”. We look to drill Jimmy Rice between the numbers just so Nettles and Bucky can bust Yaz and Pudge in the mouth when the benches clear.

We ain’t perfect, but damn are we great when we want to be. We can learn from the Zoo and we will win it all again.

Be safe, stay well…and KNOW that the streak is coming…and we will see a scrawny shortstop with caked on eye black send one “DEEP TO LEFT!” soon.

Here’s a little throwback from the Zoo to you!

A HIT FROM 1978! "HIS HAIR WAS PERFECT....DIP!"

--Mike O'Hara
BYB Contributor
Twitter: @mikeyoh21