Baseball season has started in Texas.
On opening day, in only his second plate appearance, Gabe clubbed the first home run of his career – a towering third-inning shot that easily cleared the right centerfield wall. Frankly, most of us were a little surprised to see that baby sail out of the park. To hit well at this level you really need to practice, and let’s just say Gabe’s bat still sports a few winter cobwebs. But to his teammates’ delight and the dismay of the pitcher, school buddy and perennial All Star Kyle Pearson, sail it did.
It was fun to watch him trot around the bases. Hitting a home run is hard enough, but there is also something of an art in how you run the bases afterwards. Too slow and it seems cocky. Too fast and you just look foolish and inexperienced. Whenever Earl Campbell scored a touchdown, he used to simply hand the ball to the official. There was not the slightest trace of the “in your face” celebration one sees so often now. “That’s my job,” he said. “I like to make it seem like the end zone is a place I’ve seen before.” As so it was with Gabe. As his teammates poured out of the dugout cheering, he trotted serenely around with a carefully measured pace and just the right amount of smile. Over in the first base coach’s box I was proudly working through many of the same calculations in my own mind. Do I jump up and down? (No.) High five him on the way to the dugout? (Yes.)
I never taught Gabe that there is a “proper” way to run bases, but somewhere along the way he picked up the notion that emotional restraint is an important component of dignified behavior. Similarly, I didn’t teach him – nor would I presume to – that it is unseemly for men to be seen crying, but that boy goes to extreme lengths to avoid being caught red eyed. It’s curious how intensely we intuit this. Where did we learn it? Perhaps it is our English heritage.
Gabe’s dinger puts him into a tie with his old man in the career home run department, but he still has a way to go before approaching his venerable Uncle Damon’s record. Details are a little fuzzy in my head, but I seem to remember a time in the state tournament where D earned a “save” on the mound AND hit a game-winning grand slam in the same game. Do I have that right, Damon? Is that even possible?
Back on the subject of English restraint, I have recently been revisiting Kazuo Ishiguro’s remarkable novel The Remains of the Day. The story deals with an English butler who so carefully guards his dignity and maintains such restraint in dealing with his employers and peers that he tragically wastes his life away. I find it remarkable that in a country with such an extremely rich literary heritage, the London Times Book Review named Remains of the Day one of the 100 greatest English language books. Perhaps you saw the 1992 Merchant/Ivory film by that title? If not, I highly recommend it. It may very well be my all-time favorite movie. I also recently acquired an excellent recording of a BBC Radio adaptation of the novel. If you have two hours to spare, give it a listen: episode 1, episode 2.
I’m writing from Carlsbad, NM this week, where 75% of the Austin Harts are on Spring Break. We don’t currently know where Rachel is. She left with a church group on a “mystery trip” and until she decides to call us…
For those of you following, and I’m amazed at all the feedback – thank you! – Gabe did get his acceptance to Kealing, the “big pond” middle school.
Have a nice week.
Mikal