August 2011
For the love of the game? Eh, not so much
Dirk Hayhurst, currently a farmhand at Durham and, of course, the author of “The Bullpen Gospels” and the upcoming “Out of My League,” hates to burst your bubble, but he does not play baseball for the love of the game:
So, dear baseball purist, you ask why then do I play? … Because I enjoy it more than the alternative. Because I’ve spent my life training to do it and walking away to another profession is easier said than done. Because I need the healthcare benefits (as crappy as they are). Because there are certain perks this job has that others don’t. Because making it to the top sets you up for the rest of your life, if you’re good enough to get there.
Admit it, none of these answers sound as satisfactory, noble, or fulfilling as love, do they? Some even sound selfish. But they are the real reasons. Real, boring, reasons John Forgerty wouldn’t dare pen a lyric too. Furthermore, if you took even a third of them away, I would have to seriously reevaluate why I keep doing this job.
It’s not a cranky rant. It’s a realistic take that I am certain Hayhurst is not alone in having among men who play baseball for a living. That “love of the game” stuff is mostly for us fans. It’s a job to these guys. At least those of them who haven’t made millions doing it. I see that on the face of the non-prospects when I go to Columbus Clippers game. I’ve heard from other writers who talk to journeymen ballplayers that the sentiment is common.
But rarely is it put as well as Hayhurst puts it here. And, contrary to what you might expect, it makes me appreciate these guys way more than if they were all “rah-rah, I heart baseball” about it.
Dear Pat Neshek…
Pat Neshek has spent his big league career with the Minnesota Twins and San Diego Padres. Other than a stellar 2007 season he has pretty much flown under the average baseball fan’s radar.
But for those of us who pounce on every piece of baseball related news like a fat kid does the last jelly doughnut, the guy has been a steady source of some funny stuff.
Gotta love fans like these haha.
Oh noes! Derek Jeter and Minka Kelly are breaking up!
Derek Jeter has been on a tear in recent weeks. He’s hitting like it’s 2006 all over again. Clearly it has everything to do with him eliminating the distractions in his life:
After dating for three years, Minka Kelly and Derek Jeter have broken up, her rep confirms to PEOPLE. ”They care about each other and it was amicable,” says a source. “They’re still friends.”
It’s admirable that Jeter has been able to soldier through this difficult time. I mean, now that the woman who has been the love of his life these past three years is gone, he is left with nothing but his immense wealth, incomparable fame, unblemished reputation and his power to have anything he wants in the world short of having someone killed to fall back on.
And I’m not 100% certain about the not-being-able-to-have-someone-killed part.
There’s a bit of a gray area there when it comes to mega-celebrities.
But this is not just Derek Jeter’s loss. It’s ours too, and this should be a reflective time for all of us. I mean, if a big time professional athlete and a gorgeous Hollywood starlet can’t make a go of it, what possible hope do the rest of us have?
Source: Hardbalk Talk
