My earliest memory of the New York Yankees was when they defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1947 World Series. That team had a local flavor for me, as Frank “Spec” Shea, a rookie Yankee pitcher, was from my part of Connecticut. He went 14-5 that season and won two games in the World Series—which made me a Yankee fan because 9-year-old kids like winning.
My Irish father, a Philadelphia Athletics fan, believed that rooting for the Yankees was like rooting for the rich. Given the team’s 11 World Series titles—now 27—it was hard to disagree.
The Yankees, however, are having a bad time these days. They began the 2022 season with a superb first half, but things have turned sour. Of the last 34 games, the Yankees have lost 22. Aaron Judge, the Yankee version of
Paul Bunyan,
has hit 46 homers, but it isn’t helping.
I listened last Monday night to a postgame interview with
Aaron Hicks.
The 32-year-old Yankee center fielder had gone hitless and misplayed a routine fly ball. His glum efforts to explain how he felt after having such a miserable game, and what he was going to do to break out of his hitting and fielding slumps, reminds us that failure has been a core aspect of human nature since the unfortunate episode over the apple in the Garden of Eden. What distinguishes players like Mr. Hicks is his willingness to try to explain failure when he knows it can’t be done. And that he makes $10.5 million a year, with a contract through 2025.
Major-league players are well paid and cosseted. But baseball is a cruel game because hitting a baseball is a difficult and sublime physical challenge. So few can do it well that the game pays those with that talent millions of dollars. And then publicizes their successes to enormous acclaim while disciplining failures with the postgame torture inflicted upon Mr. Hicks.
I have never met Mr. Hicks, but his gutsy performance with the press causes me to admire him. He has gone 2 for 18 at the plate in his past five games and was benched Tuesday. He may rise again, but then he may not. I admire the underdogs in life, and baseballs creates underdogs quickly.
I will root for Mr. Hicks to find his batting swing again soon. Having some bad times at baseball is not a moral failing. We old men who love the game know the harsh realities of life, which is not a game. Yes, failure is the daughter of defeat and may be the mother of success. But not always.
Mr. Vincent was commissioner of baseball, 1989-92.
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Appeared in the August 19, 2022, print edition.
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