Emotional rescue

I’m sure that most Mariner fans have heard about the injury to Jarred Kelenic this past week. In a game against the Minnesota Twins Kelenic was at bat late in the game with runners in scoring position. Kelenic had a great at bat against the Twins fireball throwing reliever fouling off several pitches. But eventually Kelenic struck out. Jarred felt like he let his team down and his emotions got the better of him and in the dugout he took his emotions out by kicking a Gatorade cooler. If the cooler was empty then no problem, but it wasn’t and Kelenic would break a bone in his foot putting him on the 10 day disabled list.

Most every player and coach on the team knew that Kelenic was not happy with the result of his at bat and that his need to kick a Gatorade cooler wasn’t necessary but that didn’t matter. When something that big and colorful is in the way then it becomes target practice.

We have all seen athletes that went off the rails and started throwing bats or slugging a wall or a Gatorade cooler when in range and the result is usually not a good one. Pitchers with broken hands and players scrambling to get out of the way of a Louisville Slugger make for a very tense dugout.

These athletes are playing for serious money and they are there to perform and try to win ballgames. They aren’t able to make that happen if they aren’t able to play and are on the disabled list. Now it’s one thing if the player gets hurt running into the outfield wall trying to take a home run away from an opponent 376 feet away from home plate. That kind of effort is admired by fans and sports writers because that effort is worth the price of admission. However the act of destroying a cooler in the dugout usually makes Sportscenter but in a joking fashion until they tell everyone broken bones were the result. Joke’s over.

Over the years I’ve seen some weird injuries most because of failed performance or expectations of one’s ability. Fans also see some crazy injuries because of celebrations from walk off home runs or singles that score runners from third, second or even first base. Slipping on home plate is the weirdest one I’ve seen.

The most famous celebration for those of us in the Pacific Northwest was when Edgar Martinez double that scored Joey Cora and Ken Griffey Jr. and the Mariners defeated the New York Yankees in a Divisional Series victory in 1995. After sliding home safely Junior was on the bottom of the Mariner pile with a huge smile on his face. I have often wondered how no one got massive injuries when that happened. Just lucky I guess.

So there are a lot of emotions that take place during a game celebrating home runs, defensive gems on the field and also the failings of the same ballplayers. A pitcher can be throwing great when all of a sudden his control goes off kilter on one pitch and the result is a hit batter. Now if the player that gets hit is the star then the emotions might lead to a bench clearing brawl also depending on the rivalry of the teams and the players involved. How the batter reacts will make all the difference in the world. If the batter’s steps lead to first base then no problem but if they lead toward the pitcher’s mound then bad things can happen. The game is played by humans and humans can do the extraordinary and also come up far short of expectations and also make big mistakes. Athletes that can control their emotions can also keep a team under control.

Imagine if you will a co-worker that gets angry at work for some reason and punches a wall or copy machine and breaks a bone in their hand, what would be the result of the inquiry as to why they lost their cool? Would the injury be reported to L&I for a claim? Would the employee need to get some counseling to deal with their anger issues? Would they be fired? Things are a lot different in the real world where a $20 per hour worker is involved. Multimillion dollar ball players are dealt with differently even when they are caught on video.

In Jarred Kelenic’s case he is a young, emotional athlete with high expectations who has had a pretty good season so far as compared to the last two. A little bit of counseling could go a long way in helping him have a successful career. I hope he listens.

— Dale Anderson is a sports columnist from Ritzville. To contact him, email [email protected].