There is Always a Bigger Fish

On a sunny Friday afternoon, the # 2 seeded Fighting Diplomats served as host to the #3 seeded Fords of Haverford in the opening round of the Centennial Conference championship. Simultaneously, top seeded Johns Hopkins would be hosting the #4 seeded Mules of Muhlenberg College down in Baltimore. A large crowd was on hand in Lancaster, Pa at Caplan Field including your faithful correspondent. The atmosphere was heightened with playoff fever juxtaposed with spring blossoming. Alert fans were on the lookout on the first base side (Haverford side) of the field for noted Haverford supporters and alums such as actor Daniel Dae Kim ( for you LOST fans) and Gerald Levin (former Time Warner exec who orchestrated the AOL purchase and managed to simultaneously cost Ted Turner about 15 billion dollars and end the bull market for tech stocks ) and who has been hiding in the corporate witness protection program with his only privilege being to watch Div 3 baseball ever since the AOL debacle. On the third base side, fans of the Fighting Diplomats observed the ghost of Diplomat grad Roy
“We’re gonna need a bigger boat” Schneider enthusiastically supporting the squad. The Fords immediately got the attention of the baseball gods in the first inning by walking the lead off hitter (Shea) on 4 pitches. Shea scored as do virtually all leadoff walks, but the Diplomats inning ended with the bases loaded as the gods showed some mercy to the Fords. Rumors abound the gods are big fans of Haverford Alum Dave Barry and this favoritism gets the Haverford squad more than their share of breaks-but as one of the baseball gods offered—what is the point of being a baseball god if you can’t enjoy it ? Ok … we leave the bases loaded because of Dave Barry.


We like Dave Barry too but we leave 5 more runners stranded in the next two innings as we cling to a 2-0 lead after failing to break the game open. The good news is senior Matt Kalos is shutting down the Fords in his final appearance on Caplan Field. Your Fighting Diplomats add a run here and there and soon we are in the ninth up 6-0 when Kalos retires the side in order to complete the shutout. A masterful job in all phases of the game and the team seems to have shaken off the sluggishness characterized by last week’s doubleheader loss to McDaniel. As the Fighting Diplomats prepare to journey for Saturday morning’s game at Johns Hopkins winner over Muhlenberg 9-2, Coach Walkenbach was rumored to be reading a copy of Sybil as he might be pondering how to deal with the inconsistency. But a shut out sure solves a lot of issues.

The Diplomats arrived early for the Saturday 9 am start and the ghost of Roy Scheider traveled with the team. But when he observed the size of the Hopkins players ( 15 guys over 200 pounds and all fit) and indeed the roster of the Hopkins squad ( 50 players or so) Roy was heard to mutter “ we’re gonna need a bigger team”.

The Hopkins Blue Jays were not without its own share of supporters as the ghosts of Hopkins alums Spiro Agnew and Alger Hiss were on hand. No one was sure if Hiss’s role was to steal signals but he was watched closely. And of course Hiss spent the game denying ever stealing any signs ever.

If one were to simply look at statistics one could conclude that the higher hitting average greater power numbers and team speed would make Hopkins a strong favorite to win. But baseball offers the role of the pitcher as an equalizer and a terrific pitching performance by one man can negate the efforts of stronger opponent’s hitters. Clutch hitting and breakout performances can make the difference as well. Or as Yogi opined “good pitching always beats good hitting and vice versa.” For your Fighting Diplomats to win, they needed to play great defense, hit in the clutch and get a strong pitching performance. It didn’t happen. The baseball gods generally find ways for the better team to win. In terms of true justice, karma or even fate the baseball gods want the better team to win. The gods want to motivate lesser teams to strive and improve so they can earn the win. Except for a small predilection for Dave Barry, the baseball gods run a meritocracy and Hopkins won handily16-6.

The Fighting Diplomats were still alive however in this double elimination tourney and had a late rematch with the Fords who beat the Mules to stay alive. But despite hitting 2 clutch home runs in the 8th to tie the game up at 9, the Diplomats lost as the Fords rallied in the bottom of the ninth with 4 consecutive singles to win 10-9. The Fords went on to lose a heartbreaker on Sunday to JHU 5-4 as JHU rallied for 4 runs in the bottom of the ninth and Hopkins earned being crowned as Centennial Conference Champion for 2008.


After the loss to Haverford there was a sense of sadness among the players and the parents who had taken this season’s journey. For seniors this game was indeed the end or this time the ending was the ending. The conclusion of a long journey filled with highlights and disappointments and passion for a game they all love. Improvement in playing baseball comes at a high price but nothing easily won is highly treasured. To get to this level, each player had to devote a lot of energy, time, effort and heart. For this period in their lives they were players—they escaped the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat and had a chance to measure up against some terrific competitors in this great game of baseball. For these young men this experience will be among their most meaningful to date. They will have relationships with their fellow players for years to come having shared this journey together. For the seniors this is time to say goodbye to the teammates and to the game played at this intensity and skill level. They may play again but not at this level. For the seniors and their parents, whom I had known now for three seasons, I could see tears and I offered hugs of congratulation for a fine career. I admit freely to feeling choked up as the moment had a Field of Dreams element. That movie remains my personal favorite and captures that generations can love this game together and share in the passion. My spine still tingles when I hear James Earl Jones… talking to Ray…


After losing, for the undergraduates, the lesson learned is always around the “I have to get better” theme as losing provides the grit to develop. Talking with some of the underclassmen as they milled around I could see a determination to work hard to be able to perform better next year. For them , there‘s always next year!

I want to thank you all for taking the journey this season with me both in writing and those who joined me at the games. I had a terrific time and loved every minute of this season. I want to thank those of you who rooted hard for Shea this season in his breakout year. As his Dad it was a great thrill to see him perform at that level and earn 1st team All Conference and team MVP.


As a parting gift I leave you with James Earl Jones in Field of Dreams:


People will come, Ray. They'll come to Iowa for reasons they can't even fathom. They'll turn into the driveway, not knowing for sure why they're doing it. They'll arrive at your door as innocent as children, longing for the past. 'Of course we won't mind if you have a look around,' you'll say. 'It's only twenty dollars per person.' They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it; for it is money they have, and peace they lack."

They'll walk up to the bleachers and sit in shirt-sleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they had dipped themselves in magic waters; the memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces.''
"People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers; it has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and raised again. Baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good and could be again. Oh, people will come Ray. People will most definitely come.


-Your faithful correspondent

Endings are Beginnings

The Green Terror of McDaniel College invaded Lancaster, Pa on Saturday to close out the regular season of the Centennial Conference with twin bill against our Fighting Diplomats. I was puzzled as to what exactly constituted a Green Terror . Perhaps it is a masked polluter ? Regardless I have to give these guys a lot more points for this name than the twits at Haverford, who demonstrating how a decision made by a group is generally awful when they blessed us with the nickname of The Haverford "Fords". If these visionaries were at McDaniel “consulting” we might have been facing the McDaniel Dans or the better yet a team I could root for, the ladies teams " the Danica's". Helpful reader Jeff Carroll weighed on our recent discussion about the nickname of the Swathmore Garnet. Noting Swarthmore is frequently called "Swat", he opined their nickname ought to be the Sultans. Just imagine the uniform options this gives Swat! Petitioners are rushing there as we speak to make this happen.

The first game started with an omen when Shea, leading off for our homestanding Diplomats, lined a drive to left center field that was snagged on a nice diving grab by the Green Terror. You can see that catch for yourself here: (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJvgu7DaQKghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJvgu7DaQKg


I figured the baseball gods were lauding the fine play and had not yet conspired to impact the game. But in the next inning, McDaniel had runners at first and third and one out with a shallow fly hit to left center about 75 feet deeper than SS. The center fielder jogged in but did not call the ball and shortstop Tom Miller was forced to make an over the shoulder catch. The runner on third was able to score standing up. If the CF catches that ball facing the plate there is not even a throw as the runner would not challenge from 150 feet. After that play I thought I heard furniture being knocked over as the baseball gods brook no tolerance for mental mistakes. They are not especially forgiving for physical mistakes either and I feared the worst. Nor are the baseball gods reluctant to administered their justice swiftly. The pitch was a double and then a single made it 3-0 , Green Terror. They rang up 5 more in the next inning effectively sealing the game and your Fighting Diplomats went meekly as the GTs’ won their first game in 14 meetings with the Fighting Diplomats. The second game was a tad better but another loss 9-8, as a 6-4 lead quickly vanished as the Green Terror had their hitting shoes on and they took the lead 9-6 , and hung on to complete sweep. Two big wins for the Green Terror who moved to 9-9 in the conference and were understandably delighted at winning their final two games. But our now slumping Fighting Diplomats wait for the conference playoffs on a down note. Next Friday, in tournament action, the Fighting Diplomats host the Fords and the winner plays the winner of Hopkins -Muhlenburg in Baltimore Saturday morning . Your faithful correspondent will be there to bring you all the details.

But this weekend was also Senior day which occurs during the final regularly scheduled home game. Prior to the game eleven seniors were acknowledged and their contributions on the field and in the classroom were reviewed for the assembled. It was an impressive list of accomplishments including many Deans list mentions and various academic honors. It was a sad time for some as this ceremony signified the end of the ascent of their baseball career. This day signified that the highest level of baseball they will ever play . Perhaps 5-10 Div 3 baseball players will be drafted ( I think one player from JHU is possible this year and last year their catcher was taken in the 4th round by St Louis ). These young men and thousands like them across the country will reluctantly give up the dream to play professional baseball. A dream they may have nurtured for years and certainly a dream in which they have put an enormous effort. But shed not your tears for these fine young men. Endings are beginnings. They all are well spoken ,bright, energetic and competitors. I have met these kids over the past three seasons and I am very impressed with them. The tragedy would be if they did not go on and use their skills to achieve great things in every walk of life. It was clear to me these guys loved the game and we can be sure they will retain the passion and pass it on to their kids. These young guys are all headed to fine things -one is going to work at Bloomberg, another will get a graduate degree in history and teaching and a third has been working full time as a financial planer while finishing his senior year and playing baseball. You can not get more focused and determined than that. These are terrific young men and I have been blessed to see them play. As I noted last week , baseball reveals character and watching these guys for the past three seasons displayed their passion and determination to be successful. It will be the same for these young men off the field. So this ending is also a beginning –these kids are in their second inning of an exciting and productive game.

After the games the team had some individual awards to give players. Freshman pitcher Mike Duranti was rookie of the year. Senior reserve Jeff Lawrence won the hustle award while senior second baseman Mark Minutaglio won the fitness award. Senior Matt Kalos won the Cy Young award as the best pitcher. The winner of the MVP was ... Shea Moriarty.

Eileen and I were very, very proud to see Shea accept this and I suspect he was pretty pleased as well He had a breakout season leading the team in virtually all offensive categories. Coach Walkenbach added some very complementary words. Eileen and I were just delighted for Shea.


So on Friday our Fighting Diplomats will host the Haverford Fords who have played well since being swept by the Diplomats early in the season. The baseball gods never lift even an eyebrow to help a team that is slumping – hence the long streaks in baseball. Coach Walkenbach has proposed the team take a couple days off to rest and prepare for the weekend. They will need to focus on pitching and defense and make a clutch hit when they need it. But your faithful correspondent senses these kids will be focused and ready to play on Friday and perhaps thereafter. We know they will give it their best shot. And with that comment, I offer a little history on the man who gave us the phrase “Hey, I took a shot” none other than our Abner Doubelday.



By the start of the Civil War, Abner was a captain and second in command in the garrison at Fort Sumter. He aimed the cannon that fired the first shot in answer to the Confederate bombardment on April 12, 1861, starting the Civil War. When questioned why he didn’t hit anything Abner replied “ Hey I took a shot” .

more videos of this season are at :

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=amherst23&search_type=

The Narrator of The Wonders Years TV show and Faith

Coming off an 18-4 win at Gettysburg, the Fighting Diplomats were hosting the Bullets for the second game of their series as a prelude to the doubleheader at Johns Hopkins to determine the home field for the conference playoffs. But after 8 ½ innings of play the Bullets held a 3-2 lead going to the bottom of the ninth. Diplomat fans were understandably anxious, but hope springs eternal in the breast of Diplomat Nation. Leadoff hitter Rich Galuggi reached base when his grounder was muffed by the Bullet first baseman. We can only imagine the baseball god’s reaction to this and we have to assume profanity was part of the response. Furniture may have been thrown as well. Our game research suggests anger management classes have not yet been mandatory for the baseball gods. After a sacrifice bunt moved Rich to scoring position with one out, senior Mark Minataglio ripped a triple down the right field line to tie the score and delighting the jubilant Diplomat Nation. One can imagine the baseball gods smirking after that shot. Lots of strategic possibilities here: Do the Bullets choose to walk the bases loaded to set up the force bringing up the top of the order or pitch to the 8th and if needed 9th hitters. With the infield and outfield drawn in, the Bullets choose to pitch to them and survived the threat and take us to extra innings. The Diplomats took the field in the 10th knowing they had been very fortunate while the Bullets were chagrined to still be playing but relieved they had survived the potential knockout punch. The 10th and 11th innings were uneventful as neither team threatened but in the bottom of the 12th Mark Minutaglio who saved the game in the 9th with his triple, led off with a single and was sacrificed to second putting him in scoring position. Gordon Pellagrini, the centerfielder, was walked intentionally to set up a force. Andrew Hanson then grounded out to the second baseman advancing the runners to second and third with two out. And here is where the Bullets had a decision to make. Should they walk Shea, who already had three hits on the day or pitch to him? At this point I began to think about the narrator for the TV show the Wonder Years. The narrator was able to offer insight and wisdom to young Kevin’s life that Kevin could not articulate himself. I wonder on occasion what My Personal Wonder year’s narrator would have said as I have journeyed through certain events. At his point in the game I recalled an event in April 1967, my first high school baseball game. As a freshman I had made the varsity and we were playing North Brookfield HS. As a little 14 year I had shown enough to be named a starter but had not faced a guy like Eddie Bartlett the North Brookfield pitcher, a 17 year old senior with facial hair who looked like a man. Back then, we did not have travel teams or play outside of town and the first high school game I ever saw was the one we were playing. I was a committed player and spent the winter swinging at bat in the dirt cellar of the two family house in which i grew up. I spent my nights facing an imaginary Bob Gibson or Sandy Koufax while the rest of the town was watching Gilligan’s Island or the Munsters. My mother called it the “Winter of 10,000 swings”. So in the 7th inning of this game, we are tied at 1 and we have the go ahead run on second and I am on deck. “Hey Irish”, my coach, Bo Borghesi, beckoned “c’mere”. He then put his arm on my shoulder and said “you are the guy I want up in this spot—you have the best swing in the county… now go ahead hit one for us”.
As I walked to the plate I know what I was thinking – but if My Wonder Years narrator were around to explain to observers he would have mentioned how the coach’s expression of faith gave me the confidence I needed at that moment. And what a beautiful gift to young kid-to tell him you believe in him. Then our narrator could have continued further and discuss that the best coachs understand that the player needs to really have the inner confidence he can execute in order to make the play. There is a reason Yogi says 90% of this game is half mental.
So we jump back to the bottom of the 12th and we see Gettysburg is going to pitch to Shea BUT we also hear from Gettysburg—“Don’t give him anything good to hit, make him chase” if you walk him it is ok and get the next guy”. Well, now we have the Wonder Years narrator weigh in again and say that our favorite coach would have handled this differently. He would have decided whether he wanted to pitch to Shea or the next hitter and then walk to the mound and say “I have you out here because you are my best and you have great stuff. You can get this guy out with your stuff now go get him”. But by telling the guy to be cute and pitch differently you have also in effect told him—your stuff is not good enough to get this guy out. What is missing is that on some unconscious level our pitcher might have his confidence challenged. And the baseball field is a very revealing place. Character is not built in a baseball game but it sure is revealed.
The Diplomats won on the next pitch-a base hit to left field. My baseball coach has passed on but I took a moment to thank him for having a belief in me way back then.
And I thank Coach Walkenbach of the Fighting Diplomats who believes in Shea.


The next day the Fighting Diplomats journeyed to Johns Hopkins. The challenge to beat a team with more horses and better players means you have to play flawlessly to win. This means you can’t give them an extra out or base runners from walks. You have to get a clutch hit with runners on and you have to have some luck. On Saturday, the Fighting Diplomats were beaten twice by the better team. In each game they had a moment to get a lead and see but each time the threat was neutered and JHU came back with more offense to put the game away. The games had a higher pitched intensity but the Blue Jays had more hitting, pitching, and defense and convincingly claimed both games. These games are a bit of a lesson in how high they have to climb to be at the level JHU plays.

The Fighting Diplomats are likely to be the #2 seed and will face the #3 seed in the first round with the winner of their game facing the winner of #1 seed (JHU) vs. #4 seed. In the interim two weeks, the Fighting Diplomats will prepare to be at their best on the weekend of May 2-4. They are going to have to be better than they have ever been but Teddy Roosevelt tells us:

“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat."


In the meantime I have been thinking about this expression of faith in someone and the impact it can have on their outlook. I sent a note to a friend of mine who is a legislator in Maryland and has worked for years on legislation to make things better for everyone there. I told him I admire his work and believe his is doing great things for people. I don’t think that will improve his hitting much but I hope it reinforces his sense that his efforts are deemed worthwhile by those of us who see it.

Address at Gettsyburg

Diplomat Nation:

This is a special mid week edition of the weekly update of the Fighting Diplomats. As you know, the first game this week was scheduled to be up at GGettysburg , a .500 team. Coach Walkenbach feared the Bullets might be ready to shock the surging Fighting Diplomats who might be looking past the Bullets to Saturdays' big matchup with the Blue Jays of Johns Hopkins. As Coach W mulled this over on the bus, he decided he needed to arm his team with some emotional inspiration with a short speech. Your faithful correspondent was nearby and managed to hear his words as he addressed his team at Gettsyburg:

"Four weeks and seventeen games ago, our pitchers brought forth on this season a new approach: change speeds and throw strikes, and dedicated themselves to shutting down all opposition and demonstrating to Hopkins we are their equal. Now we are engaged in a great week of baseball. . .testing whether our hitting , defense and pitching, or any team so conceived and so dedicated. . . can long thrive. We are scheduled Saturday to meet Hopkins on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to Gettysburg to play a home and away set as a final preparation, for those players here to give their best efforts that Diplomat Nation might thrive. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this. But, in a larger sense, we cannot procrastinate. . .we cannot eliminate. . . we cannot afford to look pass this round with Gettysburg. The defensive team, both pitchers and fielders, who struggled early, have vastly progressed, and our offensive hammers have provided fear to opposing teams who earlier disdained our lack of power or our use of speed to add to the game. The Blue Jays may not even note, let alone remember, what we do here, but they won't ever forget if we beat them down there. It is for us, the Fighting Diplomats, rather, to be here dedicated to the unfinished work for which we have progressed and thus far so nobly advanced. It is crucial for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us. . .that from these lessons learned from vaunted opponents we take increased devotion to our cause for Diplomat Nation has given us the last full measure of devotion. . . that we here highly resolve that these pitchers will get our best support. . . that Diplomat Nation, on Saturday, shall have a surge of offense. . . and that this team of great kids. . .by the team. . .for the team. . . shall sweep the rest of the games."


Thus inspired ,your Fighting Diplomats went out and beat Gettysburg 18-4 after ripping 25 hits.

Gettysburg however, offers a specific connection to baseball in that the reputed founder of baseball Abner Doubleday had a pivotal role in the early fighting at the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863. While playing for the Union side on July 1, 1863 Abner found himself the starting pitcher after scheduled starter Maj Gen John Reynolds had to drop out of the rotation because he was killed. Abner threw well but the Confederates had a deep roster the first day and knocked Abner out of the box. Union Manager Abe Lincoln, who developed a reputation as a manger with a quick hook explained it : " Abner wanted to stay in there and explained the Confederates had a much deeper team , but if he wanted to play games where both sides had the same weapons he should have played chess. " Continuing ,Lincoln said "I had to bring in John Newton out of the bullpen and stay close and wait to get to my closer US Grant. Once we could get to Grant I knew we would win the game and series."
There was an investigation in 1905 commissioned by the National League about the origin of baseball. This study somehow concluded ""the first scheme for playing baseball, according to the best evidence obtainable to date, was devised by Abner Doubleday at Cooperstown, New York, in 1839." The primary testimony to the commission that connected baseball to Doubleday was that of Abner Graves, whose credibility is questionable; a few years later, he shot his wife to death, apparently because of mental illness, and he was committed to an institution for the criminally insane for the rest of his life. Which goes to show , there is considerable downside to identifying the inventor of baseball from a line up of guys with mustaches.

Diplomats sweep Washington (Md) and Dickinson

Your Fighting Diplomats cruised to four straight wins this week against the Shoreman of Washington ( Md) and the Red Devils of Dickinson. George Washington founded Washington College ( by consenting to have the "College at Chester" named in his honor) so along with Ben as the Franklin and Marshall founder we are dealing with two first ballot Hall of Famers.

In Tuesday 's opening game with the Shoreman, Andrew Hanson. a junior shortstop, sharing time thus far with senior Tom Miller was give a start by Coach Walkenbach. He responded with a 5 hit day including 4 doubles to pace the first win over Washington 15-4 . In the Friday rematch Hanson ripped 3 more hits to really go on the "Magical Mystery Tour" . Andrew is reportedly eating the same cereal and has not shaved in order to keep this magic going. Anything to keep hitting... The Diplomats added 9 other hits and and the shut out pitching of Junior Matt Metsch let them cruise to win 12-0. Shea had two good games and continued his hitting and increased his team lead in stolen bases to 10 and moved his average up to .429.

A forecast for heavy rain pervaded Friday night and I worried that my plans to drive to Carlisle Pa to see the doubleheader may be rained out. Dickinson College offers several notable alumni including President James Buchanan who grew up in Lancaster near the F and M campus) and Roger Brooke Taney the Chief Justice who issued the Dred Scott decision. Dickinson scholars since then have studied that court decision and supposedly have not been involved in the next major decision which of course was the designated hitter rule.

Heading off to bed on Friday, with heavy rain in the forecast I lamented that I may journey 5 hours by car to see a wet field. But I consoled my self with the view that I will miss 100% of the games i don't see , so I went to sleep hoping for the best. I rose early and went outside to observe the forsythia were suddenly in bloom and the azalea bush was a lovely lavendar. A Cardinal swooped across the lawn and I interpreted all these as good omens and I jumped in the car with Tim and Faith, Freddie , Elton, Johnny, Bruce, Phil, Bonnie and Five for Fighting to keep me company for the 4 river drive. I had to traverse the Hudson, the Delaware, the Schuylkill and the Susquehanna to reach my goal and started off with Johnny singing "I've been everywhere" to set the tone. I didn't want to hear Bonnie tell me to "Turaround bright eyes".

Arriving in Carlise, I wondered if I would feel the presence of the ghost of Jim Thorpe. Jim played football for the Carlisle Indians after asking for a tryout and running through the defense not one but twice and finished by flipping the ball to coaching legend Pop Warner and saying "no one is going to tackle Jim " and thus beginning the tradition of athletes referring to themselves in the third person. But Chilis' and the Gap seemed to have squeezed out the ghosts as I arrived at Dickinson but the trees had buds and the coeds were wearing shorts as the sun had peeked out of the clouds and we were going to play 2 at MacPhail Field. Current Orioles general manager Andy MacPhail is a '76 graduate of Dickinson and along with two brothers and they have donated a beautiful field to the school.

The Fighting Diplomats came to play and routed the Red Devils in both games shutting them out each time. ( 10-0 and 17-0) The pitchers have now throw 4 shutouts in the past five games. Senior Matt Kalos has been very sharp giving up only three hits and no walks in his last two efforts and the defense played well all day making every play and turning a couple nice double plays. The offense continues to be relentless and each hitter hits the ball hard and runs well.
The team seems to be peaking now and just at the right time. Everyone had to feel good about the team going home .Driving back to CT, Elton asked me "can I feel the love tonight?" yeah Elton , it feels pretty good..

Now we come to the heart of the season . Next week the Fighting Diplomats play Gettsyburg twice ( currently 3rd in the league standings behind JHU and F and M) and on Saturday down in Baltimore they face the Blue Jays of Hopkins in a twin bill. Hopkins has been running up scores on all opponents and leads the conference by a game over the Diplomats. Athletes do not really like to play in 12-0 games. What they really like is to play and beat formidable opponents. Why was "MASH" better with Winchester than when Hawkeye picked on Frank? Because Winchester was a formidable adversary for Hawkeye. Well, Hopkins has hitting pitching and defense and they bring lots of confidence and swagger to the game. Yes indeed, this JHU bunch is a formidable adversary and Hopkins would like nothing better than to crush the Fighting Diplomats so the Blue Jays will also be up for this game. Both teams are fully aware the other is the toughest opponent they will face. Both teams know they other teams has many good players and can beat you in many ways. Both are ready to compete. This is their "Ali- Frazier" moment.

Baseball is a game of unconscious confidence. You have to go to the plate knowing you are going to hit the ball hard likewise the pitcher has to know he is throwing a strike and he is going to locate his pitch where he wants. When the intensity is raised so with it, is the uncertainty and some players will not execute they way they hoped. A pitcher will miss the strike zone. A hitter will check his swing in indecision. But these are the games they will remember when time has passed by. The hi intensity games are the most fun to play in because let's face the most fun in life is climbing hills --the steeper the better. Beating Hopkins won't be easy. It will take their best effort in every facet of the game. However, Gettsyburg is a solid team and can't be taken for granted. The Bullets have some weapons of their own and the Diplomat pitching will need to perform the way they have the past couple weeks. But even though no one will openly concede it, they are looking at the Hopkins games as the BIG ones.

We watch a couple TV shows that seem to have characters with visions. In particular. Desmond in "Lost " has vision of the future and has come to realize "the universe is self correcting" . Meaning if something is supposed to happen , like the Lost character Charlie dying, if it doesn't happen when it is "supposed to" the "universe" finds another way to kill him. Well this brings us to destiny and fate all wrapped in in questions of purpose and even karma. But baseball , although it has a karma element ( if you make a mistake you pay dearly) it doesn't offer karmic benefits if you shovel snow for your elderly neighbors. The karma is the result of hard work and talent so you can hit in THIS at bat or make the throw on THIS play. Which is why as teams advance to the higher caliber of play, the weaknesses are more evident and impact the game. Or as they say in baseball, "the ball will find you".

I don't know Desmond's destiny but the universe better get me to Baltimore on Saturday. Go Fighting Diplomats!!

Fighting Diplomats win 3 of 4 : Now 6-2 in Centennial Conference play

Your Fighting Diplomats began the week with a four game winning streak as they have started to play better defensively and the pitching has had some brighter moments after struggling in California.

On tap this week was a 2 game set against the Fords of Haverford and a doubleheader slated at Swarthmore. My nagging problem with Haverford nickname overflowed this week as I began imagining Haverford intramural games between snooty rich kids and scholarship kids or "the haves" vs. "the have-nots". I would have thought that Haverford which is chock full of writers and creative types could come up with something better than the Fords but apparently not , so it was easy to root against the Fords. Your Fighting Diplomats entered the week 4-1 in Centennial conference play, placing them in tie for second with the Bullets of Gettysburg and trailing the undefeated John Hopkins Blue Jays. A cold Tuesday afternoon game at Haverford brought out the Diplomat bats as the heart of the order ( Note : in Massachusetts it is pronounced " haaat of the aaahdah" ) combined for nine hits and 5 runs leading to a 10-7 win and running the win streak to 5.

Aristotle has mentioned he believes "we are what we repeatedly do". If he were a baseball coach you can be certain his team would have been fundamentally sound with solid pitching. But the Diplomats seem more to be a team mired in a perpetual 13-8 game. Ari may have reached for the hemlock giving up 10 runs in many games. To be a real threat to win the conference they are going to need to pitch better and make all the plays in the field.

The Friday game was rained out and postponed until Sunday which brings us to a doubleheader at Swarthmore. Swarthmore was founded by Quakers in the 1860's and we can only imagine the ferocity of the contests in the late 1800's between the battling Quakers and the Fighting Diplomats. Facing the Garnet--yep the Swarthmore nickname is Garnet-which in case you are not aware ( I wasn't ) is a group of minerals that have been used since the bronze age as gemstones. I have a feeling the naming happened like this: a bunch of Swat guys are sitting around and want to be thought of as Ivy league types so they start with colors. But Cornell has the Big Red and Dartmouth is the Big Green ( by the way since when did colors have size??) Harvard is, of course, the Crimson so these guys came up with the "Garnet". Choosing an obscure name is consistent with the intellectual image they like to project but the uniforms! are often dark purple and black which is attractive.... if you like bruises. James Michener, author of Hawaii, Centennial, Texas and many other epics was a Swat grad and grew up in an orphanage in Doylestown,Pa where it is reported he missed the chance to play baseball as he worked in a circus. Rumor has it though he did learn the hidden ball trick in the circus from a fire eating midget.. Swat, however has been beaten about 12 straight times by the Fighting Diplomats but this season's version is not your mother's Swarthmore baseball team and the Garnet managed to beat the Fighting Diplomats in Game 1 and led early in game 2. But the Diplomats emerged from a brief hitting rut and rang up 12 runs to earn a split in the nightcap 12-8. On Sunday, the Diplomats needed a win and got a terrific performance on the mound as senior Matt Kalos worked on a no hitter into the ninth . The Diplomats playing in 45 degree weather broke open a 1-0 game in the bottom of the eight with 4 runs and finished up the week 3 -1 and maintained second place in the conference.

This week the Fighting Diplomats have two games with Washington ( MD) and a doubleheader at Dickinson College in Carlise Pa. Your faithful correspondent is intending to witness the Dickinson double-header where your Diplomats battle Red Devils. Alert readers may recall last year I mused the Red Devils would have been more aptly named the Poets offering some acknowledgment of Emily. Further I pondered the Poets may have recalled the poem of Emily's "I'm nobody. Who are you are you? I'm nobody too?" and gone with the name the "Dickinson Nobodies".
Talk about taking the field with an edge! Teams all over talk about getting no respect and nobody believes in them as a rallying cry-what an advantage! Instead of an Us against the world bonding mentality , there are mumblings about Devil cults and people looking nervously around for chicken heads and signs of players being up all night at trestles with wintergreen oil splashed all over them.

Looking ahead at the powerful Johns Hopkins team I reviewed the media guide and noted their leading hitter is Todd Emr. Since when have baseball players been named Todd?? and existed without vowels in that last name?? The media guide reports that after a tough game "Todd likes to relax with a California Chardonnay" and in his spare time likes to shop with teammates Biff and Geoffrey .Just last week, it reports Todd found a lovely lavender polo shirt to go with his creme khakis which bear a subtle hint of daffodil. Jeez what happened to Vic and Tony and Mickey???

Fighting Diplomats Pound Albright 16-6

The Fighting Diplomats scored early and often pounding the Lions of Albright 16-6 in Reading,PA. Mike Duranti threw 5 solid innings to earn the win and Nick came in for the final four and threw very well.

Shea blasted a home run which you can see in the video.