Love and Courage – and then change
My mother was a big-time baseball fan. As a kid, growing up in the Detroit area, the Tigers were our team. Many ladies days were spent at the old Tiger Stadium and as a kid if Willie Mays was in town, you didn’t care what team he played for- you just wanted to see him play.
Flash forward many years, I am working in San Francisco and putting on a program at the Stanford Court Hotel. There was a gentlemen’s luncheon in the adjacent meeting room, and as I was moving to the registration table I saw Willie Mays standing in front of it…there he was – a hero of great stature. We talked for a few moments and then he was gone.
As I read a bit more about him the last few days, I realize what great courage he possessed. He followed Jackie Robinson’s example and dared to brave a white man’s sport. He played early on in the Negro leagues but finally broke through to the New York Giants (later to be my home team of the San Francisco Giants). In the few moments I had with him, I fully understood what drove his courage. It wasn’t millions of dollars – it wasn’t to bring racial equality to sports – it was Love with a capital L. Willie loved baseball- he loved to play it – he loved to watch it- it was his passion. It was still brutal to wonder if you would get a motel room in a given city during an away game -still challenging to be called names that are insulting and hurtful. But he kept keepin on – to do the thing he loved the most.
It occurred to me that we all wonder what at last will bring transformational change in our rather topsy turvy world – and I know the subject matter of this blog is key. To be courageous for change you have to Love the thing you trying to change – you have to Love the people that are part of that change and so since both those things can be hard – you need high doses of courage. You need to be able to stand tall and do your best no matter what. Not if all the conditions are right – or if you get what you want – but for the Love of it. And when you put those two ingredients together – you get change. Baseball changed because of Willie and other pioneers of color.
I read this week that Willie Mays may very well be the best baseball player of all time. My mother would argue that Jackie was – but either of these two giants among men (no pun intended) gave joy to millions of fans, hope to many little boys and possibilities for people of all colors and countries.
Willie was Barry Bonds godfather – and Barry stood on the shoulders of that Love and Courage to earn tons of money and fame or infame…depending on how you see it. I hope Barry is grateful today for the legacy of Courage and Love of his godfather, that put him where he could achieve great things. I know I am grateful to Willie – say hey you were the greatest!
