Win Big, Lose Small

Braves score a ton of runs one day, then lose 2-1 the next. I wrote this last Thursday, but the pattern repeated on Satursday and Sunday. At least the uniforms were sweet. And while I was slammed, GM AA traded for four players.

Riley hit another home run. And another. Five in four days. For a boy from Mississippi, he hits well in New York. Good to see Freeman and Riley heating up. Freddie went a month without swinging and missing. Plus he’s always having such a good time. Fans want to move Riley to the outfield and bring in another third baseman. Down at Gwinnett Travis DeMarette and Drew Waters are tearing it up. Also Camargo and Contreras. Good to see Touki pitching well.

So many of the Braves are “friendly”. Not just Freddie. Ozzie Albies runs around like a little water bug, always messing with Acuna. Glad Acuna cut his hair. Acuna plays wide open. Scares me. Some think his injury will help him appreciate the game more. I like how at the end of an inning, as they run off the field the infielders will toss the ball around as they trot to the dugout. At first Albies would call for the ball from whoever made the last putout. Then he and Dansby would toss it back and forth. Now Riley has been added to the mix. The last one with the ball tosses it into the stands.

Fried seems to have figured out how to slap line drives into the outfield, over the heads of infielders but in front of the outfielder. Wish more players would work to make contact like that. Just read where Fried leads baseball with the most pickoffs. He picks off like 19% of runners from first. Other pitcher’s percentage is like 1%.

Ceil had taken Winnie for a walk Wednesday night, and they were gone for a long time. As I suspected, she had stopped by a neighbor’s house that works with their women’s ministry. They’d received some bad news about one of the families. When C and W returned they were carrying some dog trats they’d been given, including this huge pink stuffed shark that Winnie just loved.

A few days ago Will had given his dog Okie a little plastic container to lick, and ever since Okie has been carrying the container around like a toy that he loves.

Finished my Steve Berry book: The Patriot Threat. Starting listening to The Dynasty, about the New England Patriots. Noticed how long it was – over 25 hours. Would be a lot shorter if the author didn’t keep calling them “the greatest dynasty in the history of professional sports” every time he refers to the team.

On becoming a man. No one taught me these things, though some I’ve picked up along the way. Many are common sense. I share them as a reminder to myself and my sons. This may be a repeat.

1. Never shake a man’s hand while sitting down.

2. Don’t use the stairs to enter a pool.

3. The man at the grill is king.

4. In a negotiation, never make the first offer.

5. Request the late check-out.

6. Keep secrets.

7. Hold your heroes to a higher standard.

8. Return a borrowed car with a full tank of gas.

9. Do everything with passion, or don’t do it.

10. When shaking hands, grip firmly and look them in the eye.

11. Don’t let a wishbone grow where a backbone should be.

12. If you need music on the beach, you’re missing the point.

13. Carry two handkerchiefs: one for you, one for her.

14. You marry the girl, you marry her family.

15. Be like a duck: remain calm on the surface but paddle like crazy underneath.

16. Experience the serenity of traveling alone.

17. Never be afraid to ask out the best-looking girl in the room.

18. Never turn down a breath mint.

19. A sport coat is worth a thousand words.

20. Write your own eulogy. Never stop revising.

21. Thank a veteran. Then make it up to him.

22. Eat lunch with the new guy.

23. After writing an angry email, read it carefully. Then delete it.

FRED HUTCHINSON  [SABR Bio] made his major league debut in the game that would have been Lou Gehrig’s 2131st consecutive game played. On 02-May-1939 Lou Gehrig took himself out of the lineup… for good. Rookie Hutchinson entered the game in the sixth, pitched to 12 batters, got two outs and was lifted with an ERA of 108.00. Was on the AL AS team in 1951. Pitched 3 innings, giving up singles to Al Dark & Jackie Robinson and a HR to Gil Hodges. Hutchinson once hit a triple off pitcher Ellis Kinder then promptly stole home. On his way to a complete game victory on 29-Aug-1947 in St. Louis, Hutchinson hit a triple in the third inning and stole home after the next batter struck out, for what proved to be the winning margin. The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center is multi-building campus in the Seattle area. Opened in 1956 by Hutchinson’s older brother, William P. Hutchinson. After the death of his brother in 1964, the institution was re-dedicated and renamed in his memory.