Apr
Hard Ball the Hard Way
There is a minor league baseball team nearby called the Lakewood Blue Claws. They are owned by the Phillies. Audrey and I enjoy going to an occasional game. Tickets cost under ten dollars each. There is not a bad seat in the stadium. Between innings they have various stunts and things for the fans. In fact, the Blue Claws make fan appreciation an art.
The games themselves are another thing entirely. Sure, it is not the major leagues. However, this is professional baseball. These players are good enough to get a salary. They really play a tough game. They are not a bunch of fumblers and goofs like the 1965 Mets. The Blue Claws and their adversaries play to win. They give it everything. There is an edge to these games that you do not find in major league baseball. It makes the game all the more enjoyable.
The Blue Claws and their opponents are all minor league players hoping to make the majors. They are hungry for it. They strive for it, knowing they are competing for a few rare openings. Who makes it? One in twenty? Fifty? One hundred? Any way you slice it, the odds are slim. The only way to get to the majors is to play with all one’s heart.
Just as the players strive harder, so does the organization. They go out of their way to accommodate and entertain fans. The Blue Claws organization makes a tremendous effort to attract and keep fans coming to the ballpark. It works, too. And all for less than ten dollars a ticket. You have to appreciate that!
The difference is that both the players and the organization are hungry. They have a goal that requires extra effort. Winning is not enough. They have to give it everything, because anything less will not do.
Audrey and I like the energy of the Blue Claws games. They are exciting because the players have something more to win than the game itself. Therein lies the key to excellence. Think about this.
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A couple years ago, an exceptional football player complained about some players’ performance. He said that too many players had the attitude that they got paid whether they won or lost, so they played a mediocre game. What made him exceptional was that he had always played his best game. It went from high school to college to professional: he had always given his best.
We do not remember any of the men who played a tepid game. We do not remember all of the men who won. We remember the ones who always gave it everything they had.
