RMJ 21 March 7

FRIDAY, MARCH 7 ● at Plant City, vs Cincinnati

 I’ve known a lot of players who hate to lose at anything. In baseball, it is important to be able to accept a loss and move on. The guys who can’t abide a loss often become lonely, bitter, angry, insecure, unfriendly. If you want to make your living in baseball, you better get used to losing, because the best teams get beat 40 percent of the time.

Somehow, my old broadcast partner, Milo Hamilton, has not been able to figure this out in his 43 years in the game. He takes each loss personally — doesn’t take the blame for it, mind you — but it eats away at him and spills out like venom.

He’s a tough guy to be around when the team is in a losing streak. Naturally, the reverse is also true: when we win, he is full of vim and vigor, and everything is hunky-dory.

Sometime around the seventh inning of today’s game with the Reds, I turned to Vern Ruhle and said, “Milo’s not going to like this.” The Perfessor gave me that inquisitive look, so I explained:

“He can’t stand losing, and here we are, two games under .500 and without a single hit against a bunch of mediocre pitchers.”

“Doesn’t he know that this is spring training?” Vern asked.

“Yes, he knows. In his mind, he knows. But it’s still eating his heart out. When we get two or three games under, he starts looking at the schedule and trying to figure out how we can get back to even. Well, tomorrow and the next day, we play the Indians. He’s pretty upset, I guarantee it.”

Vern just shook his head. “Well, maybe we’ll get a hit for him and win the game,” he said.

 

At this juncture, we were in a scoreless game. I was pleased that our pitchers were throwing hard and pitching well. And I wasn’t too upset about our lack of hitting, because the Reds’ hurlers were throwing well too. And I didn’t have my big guns on the trip.

Still, I was hoping that we would win. I am better-equipped to take a loss than Milo, but I also understand the importance of winning these “unimportant” games. You see, we have built a considerable amount of enthusiasm in Houston with our offseason moves. But fans are fickle; they don’t like losing, either, and many don’t even want to be associated with a loser.

Winning these games isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it is certainly better for early-season ticket sales. In our camp, with all the new people, it is also important for our esprit de corps. That’s why this game was such a lift.

After ten innings, it was still scoreless, and we still had nary a hit. But in the 11th, Bobby Abreu hit a double and Russ Johnson scored him with a single up the middle. We held on and won the game 1-0.

Afterward, I asked the media, “Who needs Bagwell and Biggio?” 

Spirits were high in the locker room, and I know Milo was feeling a lot better up in the booth.

           

On the way home, I had another frank discussion with Cubby. He talked about his interviews with the Angels in a matter-of-fact tone. I know he had to be disappointed when he didn’t get the job, but you would never know it, talking to him. He’s a real pro.

“I think the thing that hurt me was that they wanted me to keep some of the coaches and let some of them go,” he said. “I was in agreement on that issue, but we differed on which should stay and go. There were a couple of guys I really wanted. One was Larry Haney. We never came to a meeting of the minds on coaches.”

It occurred to me that I had been lucky on that issue. Gerry and Tal made suggestions, but they also made it clear that they would not force me to take a coach I didn’t want. As a result, we seem to have a good staff. They all work hard and get along.