What Goes Up Must Come Down

I just did a Google Share of an article I just read about Thiago Alves and Matt Hughes. Of course, as an anti-Hughesite, I was overjoyed to hear that Hughes got the king-sized KTFO [KNOCKED THE FUCK OUT for you uncultured plebians!] But after reading this article, I was even happier. Go check out the article off to your right before going further.

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OKAY! Welcome back!

Interesting stuff, huh?

Well, Mr. Hughes obviously never read The Artful Dodger, the fantabulous autobio from Tommy Lasorda. In that book, Tommy tells one of his fantastic stories oh-so-masterfully. I could never hope to do it justice but I will give it my very best effort from memory.

When Tommy was a child, he worked a string of pretty shitty jobs. One year, he saved all his money from this job in hopes of going to a baseball game. He dreamed and dreamed of it for months. He finally saved enough money and went to the game. He bought a program so he'd know all the players and stood by the players' entrance in hopes of getting autographs [ahhh, memories.]

One player walked by Tommy, a nervous kid with his program gripped in his hand. He shoved the program out, looking for an autograph - and was snubbed. The player just walked right past him, ignoring him the whole time. Tommy was embarrassed and hurt. He saw the number on the player's uniform, checking his program to discover the identity. Right then and there, he swore vengeance like something out of a comic book.

Years later, when Tommy was in the minor leagues, he was on the mound pitching. Over the PA, he hears the next batter introduced and his brain flashes back many a year. The next hitter? Was that same major leaguer that had ignored Tommy as a small child back in the day. While Tommy was working his way up through the minors to the big leagues, this former major leaguer was on the tail-end of his career and was working his way back down through the minors.

Well, considering Tommy's legendary temper, you can imagine what happened next. He played a little sweet chin music to the hitter, making him eat dirt time and time again. Years later, Tommy would tell that story as a lesson to his young players he was managing in the minor league.

The lesson?

Be careful who you're a dick to when you're at the top of the heap because you never know who you'll see again on the way back down.

I think Matt Hughes now understands that lesson all too well.