Anything Can Happen in Baseball

¹¹ Again I saw that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to the skillful; but time and chance happen to them all. — Ecclesiastes 9:11
(The Holy Bible : New Revised Standard Version. 1996, c1989. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.)

OK, I don’t do too much personal blogging around here, and even this isn’t truly personal, except that I never watched baseball until I married Jody and starting going to my stepson’s games. John Webb is now a pitcher for the Memphis Redbirds.

But that was simply the reason I was reading baseball stories this morning, and there were the Kansas City Royals, beating the New York Yankees. Now I don’t really hate the Yankees, but with their payroll, I think when they win it should be just what you expect. With that expensive a line-up you winning should be expected. The Royals, on the other hand, have been giving new meaning to losing.

The story, from MSNBC Sports, Royals shock Yanks on road, end 13-game skid, also features Jeter getting his 2,000th hit. But then from the lowly Royals (funny how that sounds, isn’t it?) comes Berroa, with his 4th–get it, 4th home run of the season. The Yankees have 7 players with that many home runs or more this year. Berroa is in second place for home runs, when you include that one.

The verse I quoted at the start is just a little bit cynical. The writer is expressing dismay at how unfair things can be. But in baseball, as in life, the battle is often not won by the strong, nor the race to the swift. Just ask Jason Giambi, the Yankee’s leading home run hitter, who “slipped in the muddy batter’s box as he tried to break for first.” Rather, it comes to the one who keeps on slugging.

PS: Jason Giambi is a good example of “just keeping on slugging” over the last couple of years.