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Baseball a true representation of democracy
In those two, you can take your best players and ride them as far as they will go. But in baseball everybody gets their chance. You have to send nine batters to the plate, and you have to cover nine positions in the field. Most teams take their fastest player and bat them first, followed by a contact hitter, then the best hitter and so forth on down the line. But each one gets their chance at three strikes or four balls. It is a true team effort. The best part is the fact that any one player on a team can have a break-out game. This past Friday, in game two of the Jackson-Alabama Christian series, the Aggies all but appeared ready to see the season come to a screeching halt. Down 8-2 in the sixth inning, only six outs remained. Someone forgot to tell Josh Kimbell that the game was over. The designated hitter was coming to the plate for his first time at bat in the series and the sophomore calmly banged a double off the center field. It started something that is widely known in baseball, but rarely seen- "it ain't over 'til its over." There is no clock to run out when you have a big league, you always get your chance at the plate and each team gets to bat until three outs are made. Jackson sent 12 batters to the plate and scored eight runs to take a 10-8 lead. But that one hit by Kimbell, if there ever was a definition of a game-changing moment, that would be it. Not only did it lift a team, it lifted the better than 400 fans who had made the trip to Montgomery to watch the series. I told the Jackson faithful that a game ball should be given to the young man. But that isn't the only one. On Saturday, Jamie Eckstein earned one as well. The senior, who had not pitched a complete game since last year's playoffs, handcuffed the Eagle batters for seven innings. The only two runs allowed were un-earned. I know his parents were as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs before the game. And then when it was over…..well until you have seen the look, there is no way to truly describe it in a few words. Those are just a few of the players. Each player from Matthew Allen's play at third to J.D. Mitchell's scooping up grounders at second base, they all, every player, had a hand, at some point, in Jackson making it to the finals. Good luck Aggies...and to the Bears.
That's all folks.........
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