=== How About a "55.5% Parade" OBP, Dept. ===
For those who just joined us, in 1958 the Green Bay Packers won one game.
In 1959, Vince Lombardi took them over as an NFL rookie head coach; they went 7-and-5 that year.
At winter parties, the Packers were the toast of the little town of Green Bay.
Lombardi famously broke up a few of those parties, roaring at his players (in front of fans) that if they believed in winning a little more, they wouldn't be celebrating "a lousy 7 and 5 record."
In 1960, the Packers won their division -- that is, their half of pro football -- but lost the non-Super-Bowl to a legendary Eagles team.
In 1961, the Packers won the first of five Super Bowls in seven years. Lombardi was dead a couple of years after their 5-of-7 run.
A different era, you say? For sure it was a different era. Lombardi drew the Packers up on the back of a napkin, effectively performing as offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator, special teams coach, general manager, vice president in charge of scouting... unlike with today's Mike Holmgrens, it was simply Lombardi against the other organization, and the other guys didn't have a chance.
Nine years, five titles. A .555 OBP on downtown parades.
Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing. -- attributed to Vince Lombardi
"People believe I said winning is everything. Winning is not everything, but making the effort to win is." - actual Lombardi quote and actual Lombardi life philosophy
“I would say that the quality of each man’s life is the full measure of that man’s commitment to excellence and victory – whether it be football, whether it be business, whether it be politics or government or what have you.” - Lombardi
The value of competition does not lie in (1) our ability to perceive subtle new sabermetric realities and receive the highest grades on our SAT's. The societal value of competition does not lie in our ability to sit in armchairs and apply Calculus 203 techniques to the lab rats on the field.
The value of competition lies in (2) battle, and lies in the human character tested and manifested in battle.
Sports has its most important value not in its test of the human intellect, but in its test of the human will.
You don't remember the 1995 Mariners for their I.Q.'s. We didn't stand in the Kingdome for 20 minutes, applauding a loss, because we admired how intelligent the Mariners (and bosses) were.
Baseball doesn't exist for the benefit of geeks. It exists for the benefit of warriors and their partisans.
.
=== 27-Year World Champ, Dept. ===
Emanuel Lasker was world chess champion from 1894 to 1921. He had a series of sneering, intellectually-pretentious opponents who scoffed at Lasker's "incorrect" (but hard-to-refute) play. On the eve of his match against Dr. Siegbert Tarrasch, Lasker said,
'Dr. Tarrasch is a thinker, fond of deep and complex speculation, but ... he lacks the passion that whips the
blood when great things are to be won by resolute self-confidence and daring.'
Lasker crushed Tarrasch in the title match. Tarrasch won the debates; Lasker won the chess games.
Of Lasker's predecessor* as champion, Paul Morphy, Lasker wrote:
In Paul Morphy the spirit of La Bourdonnais had arisen anew, only more vigorous, firmer, prouder.
He never formed [safe, conservative] columns of Pawns for the purpose of assaulting a firm position as Philidor had taught, he always fought in the centre, only a few Pawns in front, and if he needed the lines open, he sacrificed even these few advanced posts.
Should the adversary make use of Philidor’s maxims, Morphy’s pieces occupied the gaps in the oncoming mass of Pawns and opened up an attack, so as to leave the enemy no time for slow, methodical maneuvering.
Paul Morphy fought; on good days and on bad days, he loved the contest, the hard, sharp, just struggle, which despises petted favourites and breeds heroes.
Dr. D has no interest in petted favorites, either on the Mariners' roster or in the press boxes and cyber suites. This is one reason that Geoff Baker is The Official Analyst of Seattle Sports Insider.
Baker's reporting and analysis are always directed to the hardened battle down on the green grass of Safeco Field.
As he said on a recent Live! show, "I got news for you, Mariners fans. Nobody outside Seattle cares about your 116 wins. People in other baseball cities care about winning pennants and World Series. That's all that matters."
Read a Baker column on the swapout of Mike Carp for Carlos Peguero?, and the column will be written onto its correct background: that of the hard, sharp, just struggle to win the World Series.
.
.