HITTING TO ALL FIELDS

by Dave Friant

It’s history! “Get up, get up, get outta here,” the signature home run call as described by former baseball player/Milwaukee Brewer play-by-play announcer Bob Uecker. Except for those couple days of frozen droppages from the sky, Winter 2025-26 was for the most part endurable. Paul Simon’s 1977 “Slip Slidin’ Away” hit single seemed to characterize the conditions for some, but most survived the dismal state of affairs without injury.

It’s now time to dip into the jar of Ben Gay as we endure aggravating levels of arthritic pain while undergoing garden and lawncare preps. The grubby trousers. The trowel with the severely bent handle we purchased from Lowe’s during the latter portion of the Obama administration. Remaining portions of a 40-pound bag of soil conditioner that lost its zest for effectiveness a year prior to the Rangers becoming World Series champs in 2023. Who knows what this greening period of nature brings us this year? It’s unseasonably warm at the time of this early March writing, but anybody’s guess as to what the next couple of months will bring. Weather forecasting remains to a large degree a crap shoot.

Enough of the seasonal sentiments.

More sports lingo with an attempt from the athletic guy (more visually than participatory these days) to draw some meaningful comparisons between two former baseball greats and how their approach to the game might be beneficial with our particular plights in life. Absent the guys in the blue, your call in determining if it rises to that level.

The National Pastime is front and center on the minds of Metroplex sports enthusiasts for the next several months. Play-by-play expressions by the pros toy with our emotions. A gapper to left-center field. Hitting a dinger with the bases jammed in the bottom of the 8th. Painting the black with a 4-seam nasty fastball.

Sooooo the connection with anything worthy of an “aha moment” might be what? Hold on to your britches as I attempt to make sense out of hitting to all fields as it relates to sliding into senior adulthood.

Reference two outstanding Hall of Famers to aid the effort.

Rod Carew played from 1967 to 1985 for the Minnesota Twins. He batted left-handed and was a perennial All Star 12 times while winning the American League batting title on 7 occasions. Carew presented major difficulties to opposing teams when he entered the batter’s box. While never known for his power, he was a premier contact hitter who had a lifetime batting average of .328 while in the majors.

Tony Gwynn was another exceptional contact hitter who demonstrated his skills from 1982 to 2001 for the San Diego Padres. He also prepared for battle from the left side of the plate. 15 times a major league All Star while securing the hardware as American League batting champion on 8 occasions. He too is a Hall of Famer with a lifetime batting average of .338. Gwynn never during his illustrious career hit below .300.

Both were highly skilled at their craft of making contact with that uniquely stitched cowhide hardball and “hitting it where they ain’t.” Each got on base at an alarming rate and were content to not have as their specialty tape-measure shots over outfield fences. Defensive shifts? Think again. They made it a practice to hit with authority to opposite fields with regularity; outfoxing those whose duty it was to keep them off the bases.

Opposing forces these days seem to gain strength as we age and grow closer to that notorious bell lap. Physical health concerns. Loneliness. Inactivity. Relationships with the category of “loved ones” that is much larger than we think. Focusing on our younger years when worth was defined by what we brought home every two weeks.

Our challenge is to fine-tune our efforts and fight off feelings of ineffectiveness. Different and successful ways to skin that proverbial cat. Let’s face it. We as a majority are not long-ball hitters. Neither were Carew and Gwynn. They dwelled on their assets and each have a bronze plaque representing their legacy in Cooperstown.

We bring to the game learning experiences that ideally flow into bits of wisdom. Demonstrated character traits that ideally are monumental in the lives of grandkids and others, as well as a broad stroke of positivity enhanced with a decent sense of humor.

Hitting to all fields. Making adjustments in our approach and attitudes. A certainty of favorable outcomes? Hardly. The Hall of Fame athletes mentioned above only got hits one out of every three times at bat. But they endured. Continued to prepare and hone their skills.