FARMINGTON – The game can change in the blink of an eye.
One minute, your favorite team is up four runs and three outs away from securing a victory.
Before you know it, a base hit follows a walk and a hit batter, and suddenly you can feel the drama build.
From the perspective of a player or manager, the swings and shifts in momentum can be physically taxing. For the fan — trust me — it’s a whole different experience.
As a passionate lover of baseball, I’m also the first to admit that the world is coming to an end when my favorite team loses what might well be a meaningless game in the first week of May.
I’m also the guy who will break down why a supposedly meaningless win by that same team the very next day is precisely why it will win the division, the league and, eventually, the World Series.
That’s the seesaw lifestyle of baseball fans. The stars have to align a certain way. The decisions made in clubhouses and owners boxes that are completely out of our control are the very reason we pore over box scores and transactions.
Supporters of high school, collegiate or travel teams go through many of the same emotional conflicts. Tack on the costs of being a booster or a coach responsible for keeping the team fed and transported from one place to another, and suddenly the passion for the sport becomes deeply personal and quite expensive.
These are important things to remember when you’re sitting in the stands and chiding the decisions made by a coach or a manager. Not only is he keeping his eye on the action occurring on the field, but he is also responsible for making sure his team will be ready to play later tonight or tomorrow.
Or, as will be the case for a majority of teams this week, he is balancing the plans that have to be made for that uncomfortable trip home.
The Connie Mack World Series will be one of a few massive moments in the careers of rising baseball talents. For some, it may be their final moment on the field. For a few others, it may be just the beginning.
In addition to the historic names of Ken Griffey, Jr., Barry Larkin and Edgar Martinez, who graced the field at Ricketts Patrk before combining to hit more than 1,100 home runs in their respective careers in Major League Baseball, there’s names you may not be as familiar with who’ve also had a significant impact on their MLB rosters.
Yan Gomes was an MLB All-Star catcher and World Series champion with the 2019 Washington Nationals who will be enshrined in the Connie Mack World Series Hall of Fame this week.
Gomes competed in the Connie Mack World Series with the Florida Bombers of Miami. Born in Mogi das Cruzes, Gomes went on to build an outstanding Major League career with the Toronto Blue Jays, Cleveland Guardians, Washington, Oakland Athletics, and Chicago Cubs.
And if you’re looking for current stars linked to the CMWS, look no further than New York Mets starting right fielder Carson Benge, who was one of the stars for the 2023 Enid (Oklahoma) Majors.
Either way, it’s up to you to respect the moment and the sport. If that’s your favorite team rushing out to celebrate the championship, cheer loud and proud. If that’s not your team showering the winning coach with a Gatorade bath following the conclusion of the CMWS, that’s alright, too.
We’ve all been on both sides of that celebratory moment, and that’s precisely why we love baseball. Because it’s just a matter of days before we do it all over again.
Enjoy the tournament.