Athletics

I thought I would pass along a few observations from the World Series. Boston won in what was the most boring WS in a long time. Baseball is a funny game. I thought St Louis had the most intimidating lineup 2-6, I had ever seen. Against Houston, they hit unhittable pitches HARD. The same players were completely ineffective against Boston. This is an indication how very fine the line between raking and whiffing is. Did all these great hitters suddenly and simultaneously, develop flawed swings? Not likely. Did they slip a gear mentally? Most likely. You do not play better by trying harder. You will play worse. Under pressure any change in approach mentally will result in disaster. Yet coaches still give rousing pep talks before big games. I'm not saying that LaRusso chided his team to give more effort but it has been my experience that the team that is more relaxed and having the most fun, tends to prevail in big games. When McKeon took over the Marlins, the first thing he did was to encourage his players to have more fun. They started winning and won the WS. When Garner took over the Astros, he changed the grinder attitude so prevalent in the clubhouse and they won. Of course the "Idiots", are a bunch of loons. I love the story that when they got back to Boston in the playoffs all but one of the whirlpools were broken. Three of them showed up to relax in a whirlpool before the game. So all three piled into one little whirlpool. Talk about 'Rubba Dub Dub. Three men in a tub'! Well they won and of course, one of those baseball superstitions is started and they have to cram into the whirlpool before each game. They kept winning and you know the rest. It doesn't matter how old you are, if you can't find that essence of being 12 years old in yourself when you play baseball, you will fail. Every championship team I have ever been associated with or my son's have played on, were the loosest, goofiest bunch of Bad News Bears you could imagine. Coincidence? Yet, coaches insist on maintaining discipline on the bench, "keeping their head in the game". No wonder kids hate to sit the pine. They aren't having fun! There are a jillion games and pranks that are played in winning dugouts. I have literally had players refuse to enter the game because they were having so much fun on the bench. The ump doesn't say 'Work ball" before the game. He says 'Play ball!" So, a salute to the "Idiots". They played the game right