Friday, April 03, 2009

Following Tug's advice for the year ahead


If No. 44 is associated with sluggers, it seems No. 45 lands on the backs of Mets pitchers, including some of our best.

In fact, the essential “Mets by the Numbers” by Jon Springer and Matthew Silverman tells us that Mark Carreon is the only non-hurler to wear the number.

I scanned the list of Carreon and his Met mound mates thinking about the year ahead.

I turn 45 today. Halfway to 90. No denying that middle age thing.

And the day comes with some uncertainty. It’s a challenging time to be in the newspaper industry, and this summer will present some changes we haven’t faced before. It’s a little scary.

But I think back to my brilliant pastor’s Christmas Eve sermon. Do not be afraid. That phrase, or a variation, appears in the Bible 365 times. Once for each day. I didn’t know that.

That doesn’t mean to be reckless or unprepared. But I think it means that we should not let fear consume us.

It means that we should trust that the Lord has given us the tools to deal with whatever comes down the road, be it a bumpy or winding one that might not show us where it is headed immediately.

I’m embracing that.

Our 45s include the magnificent Pedro and the prolific John Franco.

But the player who wore it the longest knew a little something about faith. If there was ever a time to say, “You Gotta Believe,” this is it.

We've had the Tom Seaver birthday, the Jackie Robinson birthday, the Jim McAndrew birthday and the Brady Clark birthday.

Today we can proudly proclaim this to be the Tug McGraw birthday. He gets another save.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Happy birthday, Dave. It's interesting that you selected Mr. McGraw, an unabashed hero in Philadelphia. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times over years.

Cheers!