Manny vs. Steinbrenner

It seems we have two extremes on winning. We have George Steinbrenner who believes money can, or should be able to guarantee a World Series ring, and Manny Ramirez who says life goes on whether one wins or one loses. Somewhere in the middle is the fan. The three vocations of owner, player, and fan share the common element of wanting to win. The differences lie in the amount and ways they are able to affect the outcome.

An owner makes decisions that affect the make-up and personnel of the team. These are decisions that for the most part, are not split second decisions, though the owner has limitations of money and availability of personnel. Steinbrenner, for all his money, is not able to buy the championship year after year. He apparently has trouble accepting this, and in case of loss, feels blame must be placed.

Manny takes a much more rational approach. He and his teammates will play their best, but they realize that there are winners, and there are losers. They are making split second decisions in a game where fractions of an inch are involved in virtually every play. In a 162 game season, the best teams usually win. In a five or seven game series, a team, or even a player or two can get 'hot'. The only thing the players can control is their preparation, attitude, and effort. Other than that, they have little to say about the outcome of the game. Perhaps Manny is attempting to put the game in perspective so that he and his teammates will not be tight, can relax and be confident in their abilities, and play their best.

We fans have even less to say about the winning and losing of the game. We can add more money to the coffers of the owners, write letters, and for those of us lucky enough to be able to attend games, support our team vocally. (I guess this blog is an indirect way of my attempt to have my say.)

I remember Howard Cosell announcing that a left handed batter had "placed" a hit both two feet from the left field foul post and two feet from being a homerun. Absurd! He may have "gone with the pitch", but that was the extent of his control. So it is with both owners and players. Spend, plan, and prepare, baseball is still a game. Maybe our team will lose, but can't we find some beauty in the game itself, or be happy for at least one of the winning team's players, some of that team's fans, or maybe even an owner? And Manny is right - there is always next year. Isn't that the beauty of sports?