Who said there's no crying in baseball?
Tom Hanks, that’s who, as Manager Jimmy Duggan in the Penny Marshall directed film, A League of Their Own. It’s a story about the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and Hanks’ character is the manager of the Rockford Peaches. In what became a memorable scene in the movie, Bitty Schram’s character – Evelyn Gardner – had just thrown to the wrong base and cost the Peaches the lead. Duggan is waiting for her when the inning ends and proceeds to chew her out. As he walks back to the dugout, he turns and sees Evelyn crying. First, he asks a couple of times, in disbelief, if she really is crying. And then Hanks proceeds to knock the ball out of the park when in exasperation he yells to the team and anybody else who is listening, “there’s no crying in baseball!”
Second Baseman Joey Cora and the 1995 Seattle Mariners would disagree. This was the team with Ken Griffey, Jr., Randy Johnson, Alex Rodriguez and several other great players who cruelly tempted us, again, with the prospect of a deep post season run. The Mariners made the ALCS playoff against the Cleveland Indians, now known as Guardians, and the season ended with the Indians’ win in game six of the seven game series. If you kept the TV on after the game was over, you would have seen Joey Cora in the dugout with his head buried in his hands crying his eyes out. Rodriguez consoled Cora with his left arm around Cora’s shoulder and many of us who love baseball were teary eyed, too.
I was reminded of all this when the University of Washington Women’s Softball team beat the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in game two of the Regional playoffs, gaining their ticket to the World Series in Oklahoma City. They won the first game 8-0 when the mercy rule was called after 5 innings behind the pitching of Ruby Meylan who pitched a complete game striking out seven Cajuns.
The Husky women were on a roll after a comeback win the week before against McNeese State in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Something that grows terrific softball players must be in the water down there. The UW women were behind 6-0 going into the 7th inning when they scored seven runs to pull ahead, and then hung on for the win 6-7.
The Cajuns didn’t fare much better in the second of the three-game playoff, the result of great defense, a stolen base and another masterpiece finish by Meylan. In the 4th inning, shortstop Rylee Holtorf snagged a line drive and doubled-off a Cajun runner at first base. In the 6th inning, Brooklyn Carter stole home when the Cajun catcher tossed the ball back to the pitcher. That made it 2-0. What a game.
UW starting pitcher Lyndsey Lopez had a shut out going, and Coach Heather Tarr put Meylan in to finish the game in the 7th. Three up, three down, and the expression on Ruby’s face as she ran to her catcher to celebrate the win said it all. Not quite a sad Joey Cora gushing waterfall but tears of relief and joy from another great athlete.
Who said there’s no crying in baseball?