Lab Work

Thanks Miggy.  Someone had to say it, and it might as well be me.  Miquel Montero was designated for assignment yesterday by the Cubs.  The night before, he threw out zero of seven Washington Nationals attempting to steal bases.  Outside of asking girls to the prom, baseball is the most humbling of sports, and everyone has a bad game every now and then.

After his o-fer, Miggy went a little off script in observing the baseball truth that runners run on the pitcher more than the catcher.  So the Cubs cast him overboard.  As Heidi Klum so elegantly observes; “one day you’re in, the next day you’re out”.  At age thirty-three, there’s fewer MLB catching days ahead than behind for Miggy, a truth to power speaking journeyman who coined the phrase, “we are good”, back when thinking such things about the Cubs was borderline delusional.

Speaking of borderline delusional, Joe Maddon.  No manager in baseball history ever got three runs out of three catchers in a Game Seven of a World Series, and he/we needed every one of them.  That was then (a nice one-minute remembrance here).  This is now.  Time is a one-way street.

My take is this.  If the Cubs don’t ever win another game, I won’t have any right to complain.  They won it all in my lifetime, and I don’t really have much more to ask for.  The whole let’s repeat thing is exceptionally difficult in baseball, because it’s so hard to win the World Series in the first place.  A good example of the difficulty to win one is … give me a second … oh, yeah, the Cubs.

Time marches on.  People move on.  Young guns come up.  Other teams make adjustments.  Arms that get abused in the post-season aren’t as sharp the next season.  It ain’t easy, is my point.  It’s acutely difficult when thousand-watt smile, you go / we go guys like Dexter Fowler and high five the grounds crew guys like David Ross exit the team.  Think back to the very best team you’ve ever been on - in any corner of life - and think of how nuanced and delicate the personal chemistry was at the peak of that team’s powers.   

Would Prairie Crossing Charter School exist without Vicky and Miriam?  No.  Would the Davenport Police Department have become the professional force it was without Mike Bladel?  No.  Would we have ever swung for the fences like we did with the Davenport Promise without Tanisha Briley, or fielding the best city website in America without Jennifer Nahra?  No and no.  Would we have ever stopped Modern Woodman Park from flooding without Dee Bruemmer and Mark Frese.  No, and hell no.  Would the 2012 Light Quality Built East Pony team have set the all time offense record without Colin, Bud, Grif, Kaleb and Jacob?  Nope times five.

People make the difference.  In holding runners.  In winning championships.  In moving organizations, communities and society forward.  And it’s the chemistry between them that makes the most difference.  My recommendation is to be borderline delusional about the power of shared purpose in organizations, because that’s what actually moves them forward.  Enjoy the moments.  And thank people regularly.  Vicky, Miriam, Mike, Tanisha, Jennifer, Mark, Jeff, Dawn, James, Brandon, Mike again, Jackie, Cheri, Rob, Frank, Mallory, Lynn, Tory, Kurt, Darryl, Daphne, Roberta, Dave, Lesley, Rob, Kurt, Gloria, Brian, Nancy, Rick, Dave again … every kid who's ever told a joke when he came back into the dugout after striking out.  

… and Miggy.