FLUSHING, NY – In the movie A League of Their Own, manager Jimmy Dugan, who was portrayed by Tom Hanks reprimanded outfielder Evelyn Gardner, who was played by Bitty Schram, for throwing the ball to the wrong base. Gardner got emotional and started crying. Dugan screamed at her, “are you crying, there’s no crying in baseball.”
Last week, New York Mets rookie pitcher Jonah Tong got lit up for 6 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks, while only recording 2 outs in the 1st inning. He was taken out of the game by manager Carlos Mendoza. The cameras zoomed in on the 22 year old minor league sensation and his face told the story. Tong was emotionally crushed. In the next few games the SNY cameras spanned Tong in the dugout, and he looked like the saddest man on the planet.
His teammates tried to help his psyche by pampering him with stories of their own speed bumps.
Back in 1975, The N.Y. Yankees brought up a minor league sensation named Ron Guidry. Whenever manager Billy Martin called upon the lefty to pitch, Guidry got shellacked. The next year, Guidry continued to be batting practice with the opposing hitters. As Guidry remained stoic and quiet, Martin stuck with him.
Guidry grinded it out and came back in 1977 with a record of 16 wins and 7 losses, pitching to a 2.82 ERA. A year later, the five foot, eleven inch, one hundred sixty pounder put it all together and had one of the best performances in the history of modern baseball. His record of 25 wins and 3 losses, with a 1.74 ERA blessed him with two nicknames, “Louisiana Lightning” and “Gator.”
Tong better realize that this is a game of failure, and it’s how you handle the failure that will define you as a ballplayer. This is a sport where you will fail more than you will succeed, and if you can’t handle that, then you better hang up your cleats.
It was The Hit King – Pete Rose – who failed the most, making the most outs. The once home-run king Hank Aaron was second to Rose in making outs with his bat. They both ended their careers being the cream of the crop.
The message to Tong is, dust yourself off and try again!
After this article was written, Tong got another chance and shut down the San Diego Padres. I guess it didn’t take long for Tong to realize that there’s no crying in baseball.
