Maddux was always my favorite, but Glavine was a pretty close second during the Braves' 1990s heyday. There are a lot of reasons for this, but reading his comments about his game-162 meltdown last season -- the ones that raised the ire of Mets' fans because he wouldn't admit he was "devastated" -- gets at the heart of it:My parents always taught me to have perspective, to recognize where parts of your life really fit in the overall picture," Glavine said. "When you become a parent, you see things differently. The health and welfare of your family comes first. Maybe I wasn't prepared to hear that word -- devastated. As disappointed as I was, I didn't think about devastation, not because of a baseball game.My son is 11, he has a friend who's going to lose his leg to cancer. That is devastation. That was an awful game, a terrible outcome for us. But it wasn't life and death. What I said -- how I answered that question after the game -- was a reflection of how I was raised, that the game is fun and important and sometimes disappointing. But there is a point where your disappointment ends.
It's one thing to hear that coming from some player who coasts on his raw skill, plays lazy, and mails it in. Glavine isn't one of those guys, and anyone who questions his toughness or desire (as many Mets fans did last year) is crazy.
More personally, that quote from Glavine pretty much captures how I, and I hope most folks, feel about sports.
3 comments:
Reminds me of the old Marv Levy quote:
"Marv, is this game a must-win?"
"No. World War II was a must-win."
Nice to see some perspective from people inside the game.
what was levy's super bowl record again? glavine crushed the mets as a brave, and glavine crushed the mets as a met. good riddance.
The Mets (and their fans) crushed the Mets. You can't blame the whole collapse on a pitcher who only pitches every 4th game. So he pitched in the last game. Where was the offense the last month? Truly Amazin'!
Mets will be Mets. Glad Glavine is back where he belongs and that he didn't allow NY and the accompanying media circus to change or lose his perspective.
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