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
“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
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