We Are Family

In the 70s Willie Stargell and the Pittsburgh Pirates coined “We are family”. They won a World Series in 1971 and 1979. The Seattle Mariners if they win the World Series in 2015 could recoin “We are Family”.

Sport teams are like big families especially in baseball where they spend almost every day for six months playing. Most teams in the major leagues will play up to three weeks in a row of games before getting a day off. Most of the time the day off will be on either on Monday or Thursday. The Seattle Mariners fly more than any other team when they go on the road. This year 2015 they will travel over fifty one thousand miles. Most of the time they will fly after a day game on Sunday or Monday when they have a day off. I would say they are closer than most families.

I am sure that if we spent the time baseball players spend with each other not only we would be close but would have a number of spats along the way. Baseball rosters have twenty five players including pitchers. They all have different personalities. The mariners and coaches have to make sure they continue to stay focus in the games but treat each other with respect which is not an easy thing to do. Can you imagine if you were a man and you had twenty four brothers? I would say it be hard to stay on course all the time.

I have said on a number of occasions how important family is and how they can shape your life. A baseball team or any other sport team will do so in higher measure. I am sure the players hang out in smaller groups. For example, the starting pitchers spend a lot of time together getting to know each other along with learning the batters of the other teams. The relief pitchers who are sort of known for being wacky will spend a lot of time together encouraging each other since many times they are not sure what game they will go into. The catchers I am sure will spend with both groups. The infielders and outfielders will spend time as a group of their own or together. Another group would be your nationality. In this case the Latin players will stick together. Also, another important group would be rookie players. Since they are new to the team they spend time with each other along with the veterans to learn from them.

I am sure sport teams can be a dynamic we can all learn from when we are in larger groups. Both small and large groups can be a learning experience. I find that I feel better in small groups than big groups. Often in the big groups I feel lost in them. Again I will say there is nothing better than “We are family”.