Oh, Whoa is Zito!!! How low must he Go??? Fo' Sho'?
I am not a Barry Zito fan, per se, but I am also a human being who feels empathy. Sorriness. Pity.
Once upon a time* there were three young stud pitchers for the Oakland Athletics. One was named Hudson (I think Tim), the other Barry Zito, and the other...well...I can't remember, but the point of this is Barry Zito, anyway, and suffice it to say that all three were the infamous "future foundation of the franchise".
They were young and vicious and talented, and they were the future.
In Oakland. That is on the east side of the San Francisco Bay, for those horizontally or longitudinally challenged.
C'est la vie, as my mother always says.
I think Hudson is with the Braves now, which happens to be Atlanta if you have just been cryogenically unfrozen from the mid 20th century a la Captain America recently.
The other guy? Bloggers, help me out. I will kick myself when I hear his name because I really did used to know. A few kids ago. Obviosuly not sure of his whereabouts.
But back to Zito!
Whoooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa is Zeeeeeeeetooooooooh.
He is currently 0-7 as of May 17, 2008.
Ouch.
Ay.
Oy ve.
Ach, zie zeitgeist ist zer scheudenfrauden!
And he is at this moment down 2-0 to my White Sox in the bottom of the 3rd inning, in AT & T Park (which I had to check, which isn't fair to us people who have to remember a lot of other important things for a living), in the unfriendly confines of ole'
SAN FRANSISCO!
Is that really how you spell the Golden Gate City? It looks weird to me.
Cisco. Got it.
Anyway, I do want the Pale Hose to win today and go to the World Series this fall, but I would like for this still young man of possible Italian descent, said Don Zito, to get as many wins as losses. This year.
But at 0-7 and a 6 plus plus ERA in mid May, things are looking grim.
But, things could be worse.
We all know how bad things could be.
You could be a former Athletic named Jose Canseco. There are fates worse than death.
Peace in the Middle East, God bless the Sichuanese and Burmese, and roger this Clinch
I don't remember exactly how old I was when my dad explained the strike zone to me.
But I do recall asking again, days or weeks later: why is it a strike even if the batter doesn't swing?
It's the strike zone!
Oh, those compulsory rules!
And that is life in a nutshell.
You are presented with an opportunity or a choice, and you have to take it. And even if you try to avoid it and not "swing the bat", there are still immediate consequences.
Strike one!
So sometimes, that first pitch that looks juicy?
Swing away, my friend!
If you miss it completely, you get two more swings at least.
Some batters have taken up to 18 or twenty pitches!
And that is yeoman's work because you are wearing out that pitcher's arm. He has no unlimited amount of throws he can make.
Know the limits.
Know the competition.
Know yourself.
Try to know the overall series, the long haul.
Have a plan. A short term and a long term plan. Goal. Target. Objective. Desire. Hope. Dream. Make it good and worthy.
Don't swing at bad pitches!
But take a few calculated risks.
Take the walk if the pitcher has no control.
Get comfortable in the batter's box.
Don't get too stressed or tense. Or down on yourself.
Hold the bat firmly yet comfortably. We're all different, but we can get the job done.
Gary Sheffield's bat? Jeff Bagwell's stance? Fred McGriff's?
Zen.
Some people swear by chewing tobacco soothing their nerves.
Wade Boggs swore by chicken.
Whatever floats your boat. Although according to my beliefs, the use of tobacco was originally for sick cattle.
Choices and consequences.
I could go on for hours about this, but I leave you with these two questions:
1. When was the last time you had a good at bat?
2. When was the last time you saw or witnessed a good at bat?
My advice?
Use your memory, and watch a guy named Ken Griffey, Jr. this summer.
2008 won't be as sweet if he is not healthy all season. But then again, this is baseball. There will always be a hungry guy on the bench who would like to get his shot at the big time.
And the game still makes that unknown first time at bat worth it.
So hang in their, kid.
And then again, if you don't like batting, or have no natural proclivity in doing so, there is always pitching in the American League.
Strike two!
Or simply watching from the stands. And cheering. Jeering. And stretching. And jawing and chatting. Enjoy.
Summer of 2008 is here. Here comes the first pitch of the game. It won't be the last, but you better pay attention every single throw.
Because you never know.
Foul ball!
This might be your moment in the sun.
Don't strike out.
The idea is to make it home.
Safe.
Life is going to be an adventure. And if you play your cards right, there should be a few more at bats and other days of swinging away at that hurtling projectile.
I pray that you are at ease with the set up.
Perhaps we didn't create the rules, but we can learn to love them.
My favorite sport now is college football, like quite a few other Fox bloggers I know.
My two teams, Indiana and BYU, are 3-0 and 1-2, respectively.
Indiana has a good shot at 3 more wins and a bowl, and BYU looks good enough to still win the Mountain West Conference and go to the Las Vegas Bowl.
Kellen Lewis and Max Hall are both quality QBs, and both teams are good with suspect D as of late...Especially BYU allowing 55 at Tulsa, but never give up on IU permitting 50 point games in the Big 10.
The NFL is marching along, and my Colts are doing well. Favorite overall since 1984.
I like Rex Grossman and the Bears (he is a HS co-alum), Trent Green and John Beck in Miami (college alumni), and Brady Poppinga and the Packers.
And any former BYU player in the NFL, including the Eagles. Poor guys. I look forward to seeing more IU players make the pros...
Baseball is great. Sentimental favorites with many teams, including the Mets and Phils. I prefer the Dodgers over the 'Backs and Padres, but any team that has little previous success is fine by me.
Bo Sox over Yankees, but who knows...Tight race! Angels? Indians? Oh, my!
I love college basketball and IU has a sweet incoming class...
The Eric Gordon group. Final Four material?
Anyway, another 45 days from the NBA, and life is all right.
And a Jamaican is the fastest guy in the world while a Swiss is the most dominant.
Peace out, blogger nation...Work keeps me busy. Long live the world economy.
Roger that, Clinch.
And I apologize for my lack of activity; my Internet access is terrible of late...Plus my schedule...
Can Tulsa upset Oklahoma? They did have alot of injuries against the Cougars...
The current sultans of swat are still at it, midway through July.
Griffey has his dad to blame. He grew up around the major league ball parks.
Thomas, played football and baseball at Auburn, right? Blame it on his coaches training a freak of nature.
Sosa? Blame it on Dominican culture and some good genes. He is not more talented than Tejada, per se, but he has more natural strength.
Sheffield? Where is he from? L.A.? Blame it on Strawberry and Eric Davis...Wrong. I stand corrected. He is from Tampa Bay/St. Pete area, so I chalk it up to Doc Gooden and HIS association with Strawberry and Davis... (Is Strawberry still alive? Cancer and coke never got him yet?)
Rodriguez....Hmmm...Not sure if I can blame more DR or the US in his case...
And that one guy---It's all Willie Mays' fault! Or McCovey. Or his dad, Bobby.
If your dad's name were Bobby, you might have a chip on your shoulder, too. Look at the Unsers. Or the Knights. Or the Orrs...
Of course, we all know it has to be blamed on us, the ones deifying Hank and the Babe.
Why would we care otherwise, and most likely, why would they?
I don't think that these fellows are too stuck on themselves as idols, rather, they are consummate professionals dedicated to their craft, like most successful guys and gals in their life pursuits.
Fathers, mothers, bankers, lawyers, doctors, researchers, journalists, writers, teachers, soldiers, firefighters, managers, investors, movie makers, etc.
All of us strive to do our best, and if a bunch of people choose to idolize for what we do, so be it.
We just want to be good, great or superb at what we do.
Be the best! That is the aphorism. Axiom. Motto. Saying.
And my best is God, and after Him, we all pale in comparison.
I try to give Him his time. How to do that the best?
I think that a big part of it for me is reading and writing.
From time immemorial (whatever that means), there have been soldiers, armies and military people in various degrees of activity. Soldiers have historically been male.
In the last century, probably more than ever before, women have also shown themselves to be brave and capable soldiers. I think back to the nastiness and suffering of Leningrad in WWII, the underground French movement against the Vichy and Germans, and the valiant Jewish women who took part of the Israeli experiment up until this day, and the US forces as today constituted.
So 'soldier' and 'military man' is not always synomous with males, let me make that perfectly clear.
Should I go to wikipedia on "Alpha Male"? Heck, here goes:
In social animals, the alpha male or alpha female is the individual in the community whom the others follow and defer to. Where one male and one female fulfill this role, they are referred to as the alpha pair.
Chimpanzees show deference to the alpha of the community by ritualised gestures such as bowing, allowing the alpha to walk first in a procession, or standing aside when the alpha challenges. Canines also show deference to the alpha pair in their pack, by allowing them to be the first to eat and, usually, the only pair to mate; wolves are a good example of this.
The status of the alpha is generally achieved by means of superior physical prowess. However, in certain highly social species such as the bonobo, a contender can use more indirect methods, such as political alliances, to oust the ruling alpha and take his/her place.
In humans, the alpha male often refers to a man who is powerful or high on the social ladder, similar to hegemonic masculinity. In Western cultures, the term is sometimes pejorative and describes a man who is overly masculine and should be feared.
Do you all see how this term refers to sports?
I hope so. It's plainly clear to me.
Got T.O.? AI and 'Melo both score together?
The Big Aristotle? The Big O? The Hawk? The Big Hurt? The Greatest of All Time? You mean the King?
The list goes on and on...And this is only since 1945.
I use that date as a benchmark.
And I use the acronyms and nicknames on purpose.
Do we need Alpha males? It seems the universe (the small yet intricate one we know) needs them. Most of us sports fans crave them, either to admire and adulate or to scorn and demean.
All these figures help us define ourselves, help us understand our disparate realities. They unify and divide us, but they all give us a foundational context that we use as our existential up and down.
Jacky Robinson. Babe Ruth. Barry Bonds. Ken Griffey, Jr. Hank Aaron. Love them, hate them or luke warm in response, these men are our benchmarks for who we are.
They are elite alpha males. Muhammad Ali. Sugar Ray Leonard. Mike Tyson. Jack Dempsey. Roberto Duran. You name the rest.
Then there's football. Basketball. Tennis, hockey, racing and golf. Each have their leaders, their icons.
The busisness and professional world, too. Bill Gates. Donald Trump. George Soros. Stephen Spielberg. Oprah Winfrey. Martha Stewart.
But when you come down to it, who are the biggest alpha males?
Commanders-in-Chiefs. Generals. Religious leaders. Leaders of people. The masses. Ideologues, peacemakers, the whole menagerie of human endeavor.
And then we have sports.
They might help us put an order to things in an artifically tight and sensible world. We gather and applaud, we ruminate and wrangle.
Russell was better than Olajuwon, Kareem was better than Wilt, Shaq was better than Ewing, Kobe was better than...
'Shut your mouth', says the Big Sheriff.
Anyway, what does the military have to do with sports, and why are alpha males so important to both?
You can't have one without the other.
I suppose that is what I am trying to say.
Good Sunday to you all...
Clinch, E-4.
Oh, yeah. And wish me luck. My time as a civvy is growing short. I'm looking into Beta and Omega, but we'll see as the time passes...
Ted Williams was a fighter pilot and hit over .400. Can anybody beat that? Maybe he was cryogenically frozen for a reason, maybe one only he knows...
I have lived in a few different sports areas and I am faithful to these places and their passions, give or take. I was born and raised in Bloomington, Indiana (1970-1989). Bob Knight was a central figure. I then lived in Chile for two years, where soccer became more of a presence on my global map. After returning to the Hoosier state one year, 1992, I became more aware of college football for a five year stint in Provo, Utah (1993-1997). BYU Cougar football! I made another return to Indiana from 1997 to 1999, and then spent the last six years in southern California, minus the last six months of 2005, in southern Chile again. And I got back yesterday, UPDATE:Now in Loudoun Cty, Northern VA! I am in the South! I love sports enough to think that they matter...Some how.
