It's Been A Week Filled With Sentimental Sports Stories
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Roger Grossman, Lake City Radio-
People who know me at all know I am an old softy.
I love a good story. I am not afraid to cry in public (don't judge me!), and I love a story that ends well.
Sports has given us a week filled with sentimentality.
First, there was LeBron James announcing that he was returning to Cleveland to play for the Cavs. His much-maligned “decision” four years ago had fans burning jerseys in the streets and team owner Dan Gilbert posting a scathing letter on the team's website claiming Cleveland would win before LBJ did.
Now James, in a beautifully crafted essay, was saying that he was returning “home” to right old wrongs and to finish a job they failed to finish in Cleveland.
And Clevelanders welcomed him back with open arms.
OK, skeptics will remind us sappy-types that James IS getting paid to play for the team just up the road from his hometown of Akron. But he would have got paid in Miami too, and would have been the center of a core of players that had been to four straight NBA Finals. But he didn't do that. Winning titles in Miami was about business. Going back to win in Cleveland was personal.
Then last night, two things happened.
Yankee Captain Derek Jeter played in his 14th and last All-Star game in Minneapolis. The usual pre-game fanfare took a back seat to a special farewell song to Jeter. He got a standing ovation of more than a minute when he strolled to the plate to lead off the bottom of the first, and then when he came off the field to start the fourth inning the applause cascaded down on him from the Target Field audience for more than two minutes.
Even the most ardent Yankee-hater had to have goosebumps.
And one of my childhood heroes was in town last night.
Bill Buckner played for the Dodgers, Cubs and Red Sox, among others. He was left-handed and he could hit, and as a young kid I latched on to his hitting style.
From 8 years old in little league, through travel league, to 13-15 ball, in high school baseball, and then for more than 2 decades of slow pitch softball my routine was the same: left foot into the box, big deep breath, then right foot in, tap the bat on the far side of the plate, raise the bat in front of your face with the right hand, then tuck over the left shoulder and lean back on the left foot slightly. Every pitch, every at-bat, every game. Why? Because that's the way “Billy Buck” did it.
Then he became a Cub and I came to realize that he was a really good guy as well as a good baseball player.
Unfortunately, most will remember Buckner for a moment of failure in 1986 World Series – Game 6, ninth inning, two outs. E-3.
But not me. Not this guy. I remember a man who went about his business as a true professional. Who handled winning and losing with the same grace and class ... and still does.
It was great to have him at Grace College last night to speak at the opening ceremony of a youth baseball tournament that starts today.
Every now and then sports gives us the opportunity to stop and smell the roses ... to tie up loose ends and experience athletic redemption.
When those moments come, don't let them pass by.[[In-content Ad]]
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People who know me at all know I am an old softy.
I love a good story. I am not afraid to cry in public (don't judge me!), and I love a story that ends well.
Sports has given us a week filled with sentimentality.
First, there was LeBron James announcing that he was returning to Cleveland to play for the Cavs. His much-maligned “decision” four years ago had fans burning jerseys in the streets and team owner Dan Gilbert posting a scathing letter on the team's website claiming Cleveland would win before LBJ did.
Now James, in a beautifully crafted essay, was saying that he was returning “home” to right old wrongs and to finish a job they failed to finish in Cleveland.
And Clevelanders welcomed him back with open arms.
OK, skeptics will remind us sappy-types that James IS getting paid to play for the team just up the road from his hometown of Akron. But he would have got paid in Miami too, and would have been the center of a core of players that had been to four straight NBA Finals. But he didn't do that. Winning titles in Miami was about business. Going back to win in Cleveland was personal.
Then last night, two things happened.
Yankee Captain Derek Jeter played in his 14th and last All-Star game in Minneapolis. The usual pre-game fanfare took a back seat to a special farewell song to Jeter. He got a standing ovation of more than a minute when he strolled to the plate to lead off the bottom of the first, and then when he came off the field to start the fourth inning the applause cascaded down on him from the Target Field audience for more than two minutes.
Even the most ardent Yankee-hater had to have goosebumps.
And one of my childhood heroes was in town last night.
Bill Buckner played for the Dodgers, Cubs and Red Sox, among others. He was left-handed and he could hit, and as a young kid I latched on to his hitting style.
From 8 years old in little league, through travel league, to 13-15 ball, in high school baseball, and then for more than 2 decades of slow pitch softball my routine was the same: left foot into the box, big deep breath, then right foot in, tap the bat on the far side of the plate, raise the bat in front of your face with the right hand, then tuck over the left shoulder and lean back on the left foot slightly. Every pitch, every at-bat, every game. Why? Because that's the way “Billy Buck” did it.
Then he became a Cub and I came to realize that he was a really good guy as well as a good baseball player.
Unfortunately, most will remember Buckner for a moment of failure in 1986 World Series – Game 6, ninth inning, two outs. E-3.
But not me. Not this guy. I remember a man who went about his business as a true professional. Who handled winning and losing with the same grace and class ... and still does.
It was great to have him at Grace College last night to speak at the opening ceremony of a youth baseball tournament that starts today.
Every now and then sports gives us the opportunity to stop and smell the roses ... to tie up loose ends and experience athletic redemption.
When those moments come, don't let them pass by.[[In-content Ad]]
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