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Tears in Baseball

Rob KremerRob Kremer1,000+ posts
Tom Hanks said it: "Tears! There are no tears in baseball!"

Maybe, maybe not.

Tonight my son's team got knocked out of the state playoffs in the quarterfinals. They weren't supposed to be there in the first place, and they were playing the highest ranked remaining team. Got beat 5-1.

My son, Jeff, emerged from the dugout after all the post game words wiping tears from his eyes. I was a bit surprised, because he is a freshman and didn't play for even one out during the playoff run. The starting catcher is a senior, and my son's job was to catch when he pitched. Which he didn't.

We lost the game 5-1, so it wasn't a nail biter of a sudden loss. Why the tears?

Turns out the senior catcher, Steve, who is the only senior on the team, himself was quite emotional after the game. His last game and all.

My son grew during the season to respect Steve so very much. As the only senior, Steve was the heart and soul of an overachieving team all year long.

Steve wasn't the best player. He wasn't the best hitter. But he was the heart of the team. Prior to the start of every game he would lead the team out to huddle in right field, and would say "We're gunna beat the **** outta these pretenders."

He took my son under his wing right from the start of the pre-season workouts and taught him the ropes, mentored him, helped him, made him feel as if he belonged.

To be honest, my son was gunning for Steve's job from the start. Sure my kid knew it was a long shot. What coach would let a freshman start in front of a proven senior catcher?

I expected, at the start of the season, that because Steve was the guy my kid had to beat if he wanted to see a lot of innings on varsity, that Jeff might develop some animosity or rivalry with him.

Which would definitely be in the nature of my kid. But the precisely the opposite happened. Steve led him, groomed him, taught him, and razzed him. Made him a part of things.

Today, after his last game in HS ball, Steve was understandably emotional. My son was crying right along with him.

So, tell me: are there really no tears in baseball?
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L LHPitcher100+ posts
Let me tell you Rob, yes there are lots of tears in baseball. We even had teachers at the ballpark in tears because they knew what the state tournament meant to these kids. On this particular day we just got beat. We will be loosing 9 seniors this year but what a season and hopefully in a few days they will see the good things that happened and not this last game. Tell Jeff that he did good to move up to varsity and the experience will prepare him for next year.

lhpitcher
T TW344100+ posts
OK. I certainly do not want to throw "water" on this discussion but there are a few things that need to be corrected. Jimmie Dugan [a character played by Tom Hanks in "A League of Their Own" a movie about women's baseball leagues during WWII] said to a female player that was crying [not just teared up but crying]in the dugout" Are you crying? There is no crying in baseball"

There are, however, as these posts show, often tears that may be attempts to hold back the public crying. Frank Robinson, as hard-nosed and tough a player as ever put on a uniform with the possible exception of Ty Cobb, teared up when he related to a press corps as devoid of understanding as to why he teared up as they were as to why he left a 3rd string catcher "in that long". Reminds me of the fictional decision of John McGraw to play Moonlight Graham his one inning in the movie Field of Dreams. Talk about tears and crying during that movie. "Hey Dad? You wanna have a catch?"

Our three seniors teared up last Wednesday after losing 9-2 in the Regional Finals to a far superior team from Magnolia High School. I teared up when I shook the hand of the senior left-handed junkball pitcher as he came out of the dugout for the last time who, with a bad ankle sprain, had taken the mound and held the # 4 ranked team in the Sate in AA to three runs for four innings. In the top of the fifth, with two runners on base one of their right-handed hitters hit one out and the game was effectively over. The senior right-handed "ace", who had pitched 6 full and brilliant innings only two days before to get us into the Regional Championship, was brought in to stop the bleeding. He gave up a 3 run dinger in the 7th.

To watch that kind of courage and guts in 18 year old kids makes you want to cry. But I usually just tear up. But maybe next year, when my 2007 grad plays his last game it will be different.

TW344
CM Coach May1,000+ posts
Theres no crying in baseball period. Now when the game is over and you have to look in that players eyes that has given you everything he has and poured his heart and soul into the team there is a hell of alot of crying. It hurts bad! But I think its tears of pride and respect for one another and the fact that you know in HS that that team will never ever ever play together again. One things for sure when you see those tears you know they care. It doesnt hurt when you have nothing invested. But if you have invested deeply in something it hurts bad when it comes to an end.
L LHPitcher100+ posts
Very good point Coach May. In our teams case, alot of the tears were from kids that know that that was their last organized athletic event. Some are moving on and will start playing again in a week. My son is having trouble sleeping telling us he lays there and thinks what he could have done different to change the outcome. He hopes to one day coach and I believe he will be a dandy. Hopefully, soon he will have memories of what a fantastic year he had rather than this last game.
CoachB25CoachB25Honorary "Old TImer"
WE/I cried a lot last night. We lost our Regional Championship game 5-1. I start working with the kids of our community at a very early age. Therefore, I've known most of them since they were in 4th grade. One of these kids hit a HR in his first Regional Championship game as a freshman to help that squad win. Now, he goes home early. As a coach, you want to build a brotherhood of young men that are selfless and focused on common goals. Now, for 8 of my kids, they are done playing ball as a Knight. It hurts a lot. I had stopped crying when we were headed for the bus, one of the Seniors came up from behind me and grabbed me in a big bearhug. Well, you can guess the rest. We use terms like fire, moxie... but we also use terms like LOVE. I LOVE MY KIDS. Yes, we cried a lot last night.
Last edited by CoachB25
BumBum1,000+ posts
A few years back I coached a team in the fall that won the city championship. I still have with me a somewhat haunting memory of walking past the other team towards my car after the game, trophy in hand, and watching this one smaller player who had tears in his eyes as he glared at the trophy as I walked by.

We cry because we care, and it is human to cry.
Last edited by Bum

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