African Proverbs: Padres Players Edition

Earlier in the month we attempted to show how Orlando Hudson would have benefited from exposure to proverbs at some point in his life. Then we sought to explain the actions of the Padres Front Office through small pieces of African wisdom. This is the third installment of the African Proverb series -- the Padres Players Edition.

 

When he was a young boy Mark Kotsay would sit with his grandfather and talk. While Kotsay the younger would speak with his grandfather about baseball and his dreams of doing it at the next level they were frequently interrupted by Grandmother Kotsay. She would traverse the room speaking in non-sequiturs and proverbs. 

 

The overall scope of the proverbs she spoke in was astounding but she seemed to frequently gravitate to a foundation of West African wisdom. Young Kotsay often heard the following from his grandmother:

He who marries a real beauty is seeking trouble. ~Accra (Ghana)

Clearly, Mark did not listen to Grandmother Kotsay. 

 Not only is his wife a beauty they've been married since the days of Mark Kotsay's first tour in San Diego, ten years ago. Grandma ain't always right.

 

Chase Headley is an oft maligned player in San Diego. He was advertised as a savior of sorts but during his time in San Diego he has fallen short of those early messianic projections. Instead he has become a solid ball player, a description many in MLB would die for. Without the HRs though, fans tend not to see his contributions. But Headley plugs on . . .

It is better to walk than curse the road. ~ Wolof (Senegal)

With patience at the plate and a blind eye to the criticism from without, Chase Headley exemplifies the ethos of the Wolof which is why he will be a guest of honor in Senegal in November when the 2012 season concludes.

 

Cameron Maybin lived through the accolades of being a highly touted prospect and the tribulations of a trade to Florida which saw him unable to crack a line-up permanently. The fragile psyche of athletes whose success is defined by a 70% failure rate often find themselves unable to cope with such disappointments as those endured by Maybin. 

 

As a 19 year-old playing for the West Michigan Whitecaps of the Midwest League, Cameron Maybin listened closely to the words of a Swahili teammate named Phil Napolitan. Napolitan counseled Maybin with this proverb of his people:

There is no bad patience. ~Swahili

Preparing to start his second season in San Diego the patience has paid-off for the young center fielder. With talk of a contract extension on the horizon, Cameron Maybin is now spoken of as an anchor for future Padres teams.

 

African proverbs -- they explain so much.

African Proverbs: The Padres Front Office Edition

While using African proverbs to identify Orlando Hudson's numerous missteps in a Padres uniform I also found a few others to explain the happenings down on 19 Tony Gwynn Drive. They didn't quite fit with the discussion of San Diego's second baseman so here they are in a post teeming with optimism...

 

If your cornfield is far from your house, the birds will eat your corn. ~ Pygmy proverb

 

What better way to explain the Padres decision to move their AAA club from Portland to Tucson with the endgame being a subsequent move to the Escondido area. Alas, California is a mess and with no redevelopment money coming the Tucson Padres are stuck in-- well, Tucson. Currently it is unclear if the birds represent the dry desert air that destroys the minds of pitchers and the mechanics of hitters or if the Nippon-Ham Fighters have advanced scouts in place. We may need a Pygmy to solve this one.

 

One cannot both feast and become rich.  ~Ashanti proverb

 

This is clearly a proverb never considered by teams like the Yankees and Red Sox. They need not consider it because they live in another dimension. It's a fantasy world, one in which money does fall from trees. The Padres, on the other hand, face a far different plight. The San Diego club in many ways serves as a microcosm of the lifestyle most Americans must choose. Sacrifices must be made before rewards can be reaped. Slowly the Padres payroll is creeping upwards. Responsibly.

 

Blind belief is dangerous. ~ Luyia proverb

 

While blind belief is dangerous belief in and of itself is not. Belief accompanied by probing questions. Belief in the process. Belief in your people. Belief in the belief that "Believe SD" was a winning marketing slogan for an overachieving 2010 Padres team that played meaningful ballgames until game #162. What I'm saying is, that it's essential to believe in belief. Not blind belief, mind you. Just to be Big Believers In Belief. Ask Josh Byrnes.

 

A messenger cannot be beaten. ~ Luyia proverb

 

In 2009 Padres President and COO, Tom Garfinkel, proclaimed that San Diego was and forever shall be a Breakfast Town. This was not his message. He was merely the messenger for what Rolf Benirschke had conveyed to him over, conveniently, breakfast. While Garfinkel received a lambasting for the insinuation that he knew San Diego after such a brief tenure in town, something funny happened. We (I) decided that as lovers of breakfast perhaps San Diego is a breakfasttown. Now in the AJM household every Tuesday night is Breakfast for Dinner night and the omniscient Garfinkel sits back and smiles. While Mr. Garfinkel receives holiday cards from the Vocal Minority he sends his to the Luyia in Kenya. He took a beating and survived.

 

You do not teach the paths of the forest to an old gorilla. ~ Congolese proverb

 

In late 2011 and early 2012 two pivotal moments occurred for the Padres. They signed Mark Kotsay to serve as a bench player and as mentor to a young club in need of leadership. The experienced clubhouse gorilla, if you will. 

 

Then Jeff Moorad attended the Baseball Owners meeting to seek approval for the full purchase of the Padres from John Moores. He was publicly rebuked. Moorad took the news calmly even though that no good bastard Ken Kendrickson of the Diamondbacks was doing everything possible to block the purchase. While John Moores flipped out and refused to vote for Bud Selig's continued stewardship of MLB, Jeffrey Moorad continued to stay the course. Calmly. Moorad understands the path.

 

Stolen things bring in misfortune. ~Kenyan proverb

 

On November 13th of 2010 the Padres obtained Cameron Maybin for Ryan Webb and Edward Mujica. On rare occasions African wisdom must be rejected.

 

Two male hippos do not stay in the same pond. ~ Azania proverb

 

After acquiring Yonder Alonso in the Mat Latos trade Padres General Manager Josh Byrnes decides that he doesn't want a Quarterback Controversy at first base with Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo is shipped to Chicago on January 6th for Andrew Cashner.

 

Money is sharper than the sword. ~ Ashanti proverb

 

In early 2012 the Padres decided to make a concerted effort to accumulate more monetary reserves. The first step in this process was to return all swords for cash-- a controversial decision to be sure, as everyone knows that swords are cool. First the trade of Adrian Gonzalez and now the Padres' surplus of swords. Nobody said it would be easy as a Padres fan.

 

Armed with the wisdom of proverbs the San Diego Padres' pilgrimage into 2012 continues.

Hacksaw's Hacked-Quotes: Contract Extension Talk With Padres GM, Josh Byrnes

Wanting to hear Josh Byrnes comment on today's trade of Anthony Rizzo, I was presented with an opportunity cost.  I could listen and glean information from the Padres GM thus increasing my baseball IQ or I could ignore the interview and inevitably save 45 minutes of my life. The interview was a mere 5 minutes but I knew that some inane comment by Hacksaw would inevitably force me into blogging about it.

So here I am. Blogging about it . . .


After listening to the interview I saw this tweet by Saw:

The punctuation things are called quotation marks. Within the quotation marks are words. Outside of the quotation marks is a name. What this is called is a quotation.

As literate folk we are led to believe that the person in question, Josh [Byrnes], said the above statement.

In summation: Josh Byrnes said that he is talking about contract extensions with both Cameron Maybin and Chase Headley.

Except he didn't say that. How do I know? Well I listened. Then I went back and listened to make sure I wasn't crazy. And then I transcribed it.

Hacksaw: 

It had been proposed to me, that somewhere along the line in this off-season that you would start negotiating multi-year contracts to buy out arbitration with a couple of cornerstone guys. And I don't know whether that's Maybin or weather that's Headley. Are you gonna do that?

Josh Byrnes: 

We've had discussion with a few guys.

How can you feed the guy names* and then quote him (rhetorical question)? Between Scott and BR in the morning and Hacksaw in the afternoon we are surely a charmed fan base.

*There's no way Headley is getting an extension.