The Ten Commandments of Baseball

I am reading a book called Riding With the Blue Moth. It is a true story about a man who rides a bike across the country as a way of dealing with the tragic death of his son. The author is Bill Hancock whose job it is to set up the NCAA basketball tournament every year. He has a lot of sports quotes throughout the book. Last night I was reading and he used a quote from Joe McCarthy’s “Ten Commandments of Baseball”. I played a lot of baseball and never heard of the “Ten Commandments of Baseball”; so I Googled it. I was glad I did. It is pure conventional, homespun wisdom. But if you read between the lines it is about what we should all do in our daily lives. I particularly like commandment #2 and am personally working on that one. If I can make my life as simple as playing baseball I can really improve things. Because I love baseball!

Ten Commandments for Success in Baseball

by Joe McCarthy (1949)

1.Nobody ever became a ballplayer by walking after a ball.

2.You will never become a .300 hitter unless you take the bat off your shoulder.
3.An outfielder who throws in back of a runner is locking the barn after the horse is stolen.
4.Keep your head up and you may not have to keep it down.
5.When you start to slide, slide. He who changes his mind may have to change a good leg for a bad one.
6.Do not alibi on bad hops. Anybody can field the good ones.
7.Always run them out. You never can tell.
8.Do not quit.
9.Do not fight too much with the umpires. You cannot expect them to be as perfect as you are.
10.A pitcher who hasn't control hasn't anything.

I figure there should be an Eleventh one, so I will add it:

11. Always wear a cup!

Have a good day. Adjust your cup. Pull on the bill of your hat. Spit in your glove, smack it few times with your fist and PLAY BALL!

A Few Special Reasons for Thanksgiving This Year...

This wonderful family. This was taken in October on our recent trip to San Diego. Shortly after my pratfall in the tide pools. (See Falling is Always Funny blog)

From left to right. Hilary, Cecily, Bryan, Jill (Bryan's friend) Natalie, Marian and Keegan. Missing are; Chris & Jacey and Bruce (their dog!), Emily and Brandon, and of course Calvin our stupid gay cat and Pele our black lab. One of these days next spring when Brandon returns from Samoa we will get one of the whole group. It's been awhile.

This wonderful wife Marian. Who continues to exercise great patience and forgiveness with me. (OK - so it was taken a few years ago - she hasn't change that much to me)

This wonderful son Brandon. Serving an LDS mission in Samoa.

This wonderful son Chris. That landed an unbelievably awesome "180" on more than just this snowboard!

This wonderful daughter Cecily. Who was recently in the hospital dealing with a blood clot.

And of course... Bruce! Who is always glad to see us.

Falling is Always Funny

Nothing makes me laugh harder than to witness people falling down. The only thing funnier is when Marian sees it and I get to watch her uncontrollable laughter.

For our trip to San Diego I needed some new flips flops and waited to get some in Southern California figuring I would have a better selection. WRONG! All sold-out and not a thing I liked on the shelves. I ended up buying some slip-on sailing style shoe's. The idea was to just get something I didn't care about getting wet, sandy or muddy. These had those cool non-slip soles. I was so proud of them and modeled them in the hotel room before going to the beach making everyone tell me how good they looked. I was concerned they made me look like a middle-aged tourist. My family managed to prop up my insecurity and stroke my ego. About 2 hours later I managed to destroy it.

Natalie, my oldest daughter, and I were walking along the rocks at the tide pools in La Jolla. We were talking, I'm sure, of something of global importance and lagging behind the rest of the family. (Good thing) I had my hands in my shorts pockets and was walking slowly along stepping over small crevices in the rocks and avoiding the clear pools of water in the small hollows. I noticed the rocks were wet where I was walking and had full confidence in my brand new non-slip sailing shoes. WRONG! - Second mistake of the day. It's funny how quick you go down when you hit a patch of green algae on wet rocks.

I have been blessed with above average athletic ability and lightning quick reflexes; albeit a 54 year old reflex at this writing. In a nano-second I went into what appeared to be the old high school football "whistle drill". At the sound of the whistle you hit the ground on your stomach and bounce up running until the next whistle. It wasn't quite that smooth. Yes, I started to go down hard, face first. I don't know how I managed to get my hands out of my pockets in time to catch myself and avoid french-kissing some barnacles. I must have looked like I was doing semaphore at warp speed. Now on all fours I was trying to avoid the inevitable face plant and smearing algae all over myself. Actually, like all egotist athletes I was trying to make it look natural and come out of it as if it were an advanced Olympic floor-tumbling exercise. No such luck. I was slipping and sliding like a deer on ice. You couldn't tell if I was trying to finger paint on all-fours or imitating a drunk spider doing push-ups! I finally managed to create friction with two of my limbs and develop some traction. I saved it! No face plant. I slowly worked my way to my feet, stood tall and acted as if I had planned it that way.

Natalie is her mother's daughter. Raucous laughter echoed off the rocks of the nearby cliffs. She had just witnessed the $100,000 winner of America's Funniest Home Video's. Bummer -no video camera present. I am sure I made the old people at the picnic tables above laugh too. They probably come there every day and sit there just waiting for some gringo like me to hit that patch of algae and go down like a flopping tuna on a sport fishing boat. I was no worse for wear and had managed to not tear any muscles or clothing in the process. Best of all, my ego was still intact, despite my daughters guffaws. I'm just glad the whole family didn't witness it. I would have been the topic of conversation, imitation and laughter the whole weekend. Just a private show for you Natalie!

Editors Note

I have realized that I get a little too serious in my blogs. I figured since the thing that got me started writing was my sense of humor that I should be a little more light-hearted about this and not editorialize so much. So for the next while I will attempt to make myself laugh. It doesn't really matter whether it's funny to you. After all, this is my Blog!

Navy SEALs

I find myself in San Diego, California. Place of my birth. We are here on a family vacation. As a family we enjoy Coronado Beach. I spent a lot of time there as a teenager and my kids have adopted it as theirs. At 9PM Thursday night we were walking the grounds of the Hotel Del Coronado. As we approached the hotel from the beach side I could hear the unmistakable sounds of Navy SEALs training at the jetty just south. We were drawn to the shouting of the instructors, the unified chorus of response from the different teams. Initially all we could see were what appeared to be about ten small groups. Each group identifiable by eight green light sticks moving in unison in the dark distance. From previous experience I knew what they were doing. Paddling out in a raft past the breakwater, then on a signal paddling back in. As a team carrying the raft over the jetty, then wet and cold and in full uniform, standing at perfect attention until the team was told to do it again. Training. It happened to be a warm October evening. The water in San Diego hasn't started to take on it's winter temperature just yet. It wouldn't have mattered. These men train in all conditions. War is not seasonal.

I have driven up the Silver Strand 1000 times and passed the Amphibious Base located there. Home of Sea Bees, the previously designated Underwater Demolition Teams, Frogmen and the now modern Navy SEALs. In fact, the summer of 1975 I worked as a civilian on the Amphibious Base and saw these men up-close. They seemed so old to me at that time. I was 22. In reality they were most likely my age or younger. As I watched them that evening I thought of how young they really were and yet how willing each one was to volunteer to be charged with the responsibility of protecting my freedom and the freedoms of people not of our country.

The first team of Navy SEALs was commissioned in 1962. In 1987 the modern day SEALs became part of the Naval Special Warfare Command. I want to emphasize the word "SPECIAL". The 300 Spartans at Thermopylae had nothing on these guys. I told my sons and daughters who were with me that these were special men training for special assignments of the most critically dangerous kind. We were witnessing the making of the best warriors in the world. I don't agree with war. I hate war. SEALs I'm sure, loathe war as many of them have faced that ugly and vicious dragon up-close and personal. I have only seen it on TV. But the reality of the world we live in today requires men to step up and take a position on the dangerous front line of freedom where philosophies clash and bullets fly. These were the boys that allowed us to keep the privilege of having a peaceful family vacation in Coronado. The irony of SEALs training within the view of the fantasy people were experiencing as guests of the revered Hotel Del Coronado was not lost on me.

I just started the book by Navy SEAL, Marcus Luttrell; "Lone Survivor". It is a true story of Navy SEALs who served in Afghanistan. I don't need to read the book to know it is a story of courage, preparedness, teamwork and ultimate sacrifice. My interest in reading the book has been intensified. I want to personally thank all the people in the military for their service to me and my family. For allowing me to live a free life. I want to thank all the veterans. Particularly my father, Leonard Black Jr., U.S. Navy WWII, my father-in-law, Melvin Sven Johnsen, U.S. Army WWII, and my brother-in-law, Michael Johnsen, U.S. Army, Vietnam. I want to thank Marcus Luttrell and SEAL Team 10. I want to thank all the young but fully capable U.S. Navy SEALs for their dedication to duty, sacrifice and unwavering patriotism and loyalty to country and constitution. I wanted to shout out to those young men, "You make us proud gentlemen. You are the best!" I didn't, and have felt bad that they don't know how this citizen feels. That's why I'm writing this.

I entered a restaurant today for dinner. As I opened the door an officer of the U.S. Navy was walking out. He hesitated, I am sure to let me pass first. I stepped back and held the door open for him. He smiled and as he walked through said, "Thank you." I looked him square in the eye and said, "No. Thank YOU, Sir!" I hope he caught my meaning.

Nice Shoes!

There are certain movies that you watch every time you stumble across them in a channel surfing moment. At least a few minutes of them. If it's late and you're up you will probably watch the whole movie for the 30th time. A few of those movies for me are, Predator (which I watched 15 minutes of just last night - you know the part where Arnold puts mud all over his body and stalks the predator because the beast can't see his heat signature through the mud...) The original Die Hard, The Bourne Identity, and The Italian Job. But they aren't all macho "man" movies either. I always get sucked into Sleepless in Seattle and You've Got Mail. I've already told you I was a hopeless romantic. Two others are Dave and The American President. There are even lines from movies that have stuck with us over the years and have become part of our conversational vocabulary.

There is a scene in The American President where Michael Douglas, portraying President Andrew Shepherd, is getting ready to go out on a date with Sydney Ellen Wade, the lobbyist played by Annette Bening. The President's daughter Lucy is fixing his bow tie and the widowed father asks his daughter if she is OK with him going out with another woman. Lucy assures him it is totally OK with her and sends him happily on his way. As he departs Lucy says to him, " Tell her she has nice shoes. Women like it when you notice their shoes." He later uses the corny line and it works. "Nice Shoes".

This blog has nothing to do with anything, but isn't that true of all my blogs? I just found this cartoon really funny and decided to write about it. It just made me laugh. Maybe it will do the same for you.

Ruuun BeeYotch Ruuun!!!

Cecily -"Hurry, I don't feel so good", Natalie -"I did it!", Marian -"Will anyone run a 10K with me?", and Emily -"Can we go to Cafe Rio now!?"

The weekend took the family to the St George, Utah Marathon. No, we didn't all run it. Are you kidding? I would like to be in the kind of shape that it takes to run a marathon; but pardon me... I have no interest! We all went to support my oldest daughter Natalie in this, her second marathon. The object for Natalie was to finish the marathon. The object for us, the spectators, was to wade through the mass of people and road closures and hopefully find a few places along the way to cheer and yell out encouragement to our runner. I also had time to reflect on the fact of how grateful I was to not be one of those people running by with pained gray faces and beyond weary bodies. I am proud to say that in her second marathon Natalie shattered her time by 38 minutes. A time of 4:33:05. You Go Girl!!

When I caught her at mile 24 I could tell she was in a lot better shape than her first marathon experience. She even smiled and waved. I guess like anything else, once you know what to expect you are better prepared. The thing about running a marathon is the marathon of preparation that precedes the race. That in itself is an accomplishment worth noting.

I am proud of my daughter and her goal oriented discipline. As I have said in a previous blog, "She gets that from her Mom".

Congratulations Natalie. I am proud of you. Ruuun BeeYotch Ruuun!!