This column is a plea. It's a plea to Big Green baseball skipper Bob Whalen to quit staring at batting averages and earned run averages and search his heart for what is right. Rarely does a manager get to forget about wins and losses and enjoy the simplicity and the beauty of ballplayers being ballplayers. But tomorrow, when first-place Harvard comes to town, Dartmouth will have nothing to play for but pride, having been eliminated from the Ivy League title race last weekend in New Haven. Tomorrow is one of those precious opportunities to bask in the sunshine and play two. It's who will be playing those two that interests me.
My plea is to play the seniors. Forget momentarily about the cliches of trying to improve with each game and wanting to finish the year on a high note. Rather, make sure all six seniors start both games. Everybody has seen Mike Conway '99 line a curveball into left field or make a diving stab at third base, but who has seen Jeremy McCormick '99 tag out a runner at the plate or Bernard Mauricia '99 pitch out of the stretch. How many more times will we get to watch Ron Friedman '99 run down a flyball in left, Eric Anderson '99 take a long turn at first after a single, or Nick Ratliff '99 trot in from the bullpen.
Yet the emphasis should be on the two who rarely get to enjoy the Red Rolfe spotlight. Neither McCormick nor Mauricia have appeared in an Ivy League game at Red Rolfe Field this season. McCormick, a backup catcher, has appeared in nine of the Big Green's 35 games while Mauricia has pitched 19 innings this season. To be considerate would be to allow these seniors to play in the team's final home game next week against Middlebury. To be genuine would mean letting these seniors play in a game against a top-notch Ivy League weekend in front of a large weekend crowd.
The story of Jeremy McCormick and Bernard Mauricia is not lengthy, yet it needs to be told. They are the diehards of the Big Green baseball program, two players who are torch-bearers not only for Dartmouth baseball but for all Big Green athletes. While most athletes who have seen limited playing time quit, McCormick and Mauricia persevered, lifting weights early in the morning and sweating in Leverone late at night for four years, just trying to enjoy being an athlete on the Division I level. They take pride in miniscule stats, such as leading the team in hitting with two outs (McCormick is tops on the squad with a .500 average in such situations) or being second in ERA in Mauricia's case.
Sure, Whalen can choose not to play either player and then start them against Division III Middlebury next week. But what message does that send to his younger players. Work hard for four years, accept your role and maybe I'll consider letting you start against a lesser team in your final home game. Why not reward players such as McCormick and Mauricia for their sweat, toil and time by giving them a chance to play when it counts. Show the 21 underclassmen on the Big Green team that there are rewards for being team players.
In the end, nobody will remember how many wins or losses the 1999 Big Green baseball team had. But all six seniors will remember battling Harvard in front of their friends and peers as the grand finale to their careers. Some careers have been finer than others, but all six are equal in terms of commitment. Putting Anderson, Conway, Friedman, and McCormick on the lineup card shows class, leaving any of them on the bench shows disrespect to their efforts. Not letting Ratliff and Mauricia pitch Saturday tells both the players and the fans that winning takes precedence over decency and loyalty in the Big Green baseball program. And that is a stain that numbers on the scoreboard or in a box score can't take away.
Play the seniors. Start the seniors. Reward the seniors. Give them the chance to savor Red Rolfe Field one last time and let them be the ambassadors of Big Green baseball this Saturday. They've spent four years laboring in the shadows. They deserve their 14 innings of fame.
