Hace unos d\u00c3\u00adas disfrut\u00c3\u00a9 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Winning Season\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (2004, John Kent Harrison), una pel\u00c3\u00adcula sobre un ni\u00c3\u00b1o que se pone muy nervioso a la hora de batear y siempre terminaba ponch\u00c3\u00a1ndose. Todo empieza a cambiar cuando encuentra una barajita de Honus Wagner en el s\u00c3\u00b3tano de la casa de la anciana a qui\u00c3\u00a9n siempre va a ayudar con las labores de su casa. El ni\u00c3\u00b1o regresa a casa euf\u00c3\u00b3rico porque aquella barajita iba a resolver todas las dificultades econ\u00c3\u00b3micas de la familia. Cuando los padres le dicen que debe regresar la barajita a su due\u00c3\u00b1a, el ni\u00c3\u00b1o sale molesto de la casa y mientras contempla el cromo bajo la luz de las estrellas aparece como adolescente en un campo de b\u00c3\u00a9isbol, en plena Serie Mundial de 1909. Honus Wagner juega el campocorto de los Piratas de Pittsburgh ante los Tigres de Detroit y Ty Cobb.<\/p>\n
Mientras ve\u00c3\u00ada la pel\u00c3\u00adcula fue inevitable desplegar otro metraje de eventos ocurridos en la temporada venezolana de b\u00c3\u00a9isbol profesional de 1968-69. Clarence Gaston, Pat Kelly, Joe Rudi, Walter Hriniak, D\u00c3\u00a1maso Blanco, Gustavo Gil, Bob Belinsky, Salvatore Campisi, Armando Ortiz, Roberto Mu\u00c3\u00b1oz, Bill Butler, Ron Tompkins; hab\u00c3\u00adan logrado meter a los Navegantes del Magallanes en la clasificaci\u00c3\u00b3n. En el play off final el equipo empez\u00c3\u00b3 a tener dificultades porque Belinsky y Campisi, dos de sus lanzadores m\u00c3\u00a1s importantes abandonaron el equipo por razones contractuales. Cuando el equipo perdi\u00c3\u00b3 el juego que lo dejaba fuera de carrera, discut\u00c3\u00ad atropelladamente con mis hermanos sobre las razones de la eliminaci\u00c3\u00b3n del Magallanes, me fui a acostar molesto con ellos, pas\u00c3\u00a9 toda la noche dando vueltas en mi cama. En una de esos giros aparec\u00c3\u00ad en la entrada del dugout de primera base del Estadio Universitario. Gaston desamarraba las trenzas de sus zapatos con la cabeza entre las rodillas. Me sent\u00c3\u00a9 a su lado, luego de repetirlo varias veces en mi cabeza, le pregunt\u00c3\u00a9: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c2\u00bfPor qu\u00c3\u00a9 se fueron Belinsky y Campisi\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Gaston levant\u00c3\u00b3 la mirada y ech\u00c3\u00b3 hacia atr\u00c3\u00a1s los brazos. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Eso lo ignoro. Debieron tener sus razones. Nosotros perdimos por lo que dejamos de hacer en el campo. Podr\u00c3\u00adamos haber ganado sin ellos, pero fuimos incapaces de ejecutar las jugadas\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. D\u00c3\u00a1maso apretaba los cordeles de su guante de tercera base. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cito est\u00c3\u00a1 en lo cierto, si hubi\u00c3\u00a9semos jugado como lo hicimos en la \u00c3\u00baltima semana del campeonato, ahora mismo estuvi\u00c3\u00a9semos disputando el t\u00c3\u00adtulo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Me levant\u00c3\u00a9 del banco y llegu\u00c3\u00a9 al centro del circulo de uniformes a rayas con el logo del barco en el lado izquierdo del pectoral. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Pero Belinsky y Campisi lanzaron muy bien, ganaron juegos claves para el equipo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
En el momento clave de \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Winning Season\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, el adolescente viaja con Honus Wagner y hacen un alto en un bosque, all\u00c3\u00ad mientras descansan bajo un \u00c3\u00a1rbol, Wagner le dice: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lo que m\u00c3\u00a1s me gusta del b\u00c3\u00a9isbol es que puedes hacer felices a muchas personas, ricos y pobres, blancos y negros, ni\u00c3\u00b1os y adultos. Ni el dinero, ni la jerarqu\u00c3\u00ada, ni la mejor habitaci\u00c3\u00b3n de los hoteles, valen para m\u00c3\u00ad m\u00c3\u00a1s que eso\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
Un fuerte olor a sudor se mezclaba con los efluvios del alcanfor y la brisa tra\u00c3\u00ada peque\u00c3\u00b1as part\u00c3\u00adculas de agua fr\u00c3\u00ada arrancadas del cubo donde Mu\u00c3\u00b1oz ten\u00c3\u00ada hundido el brazo de lanzar. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Belinsky y Campisi lanzaron muy bien s\u00c3\u00ad. Pero ellos no eran todo el equipo. Entre Ronnie Tompkins y yo ganamos tantos juegos como ellos. Bill Butler tambi\u00c3\u00a9n se faj\u00c3\u00b3. Hay que reconocer que algo nos falt\u00c3\u00b3 al final, pero no fue ni Belinsky ni Campisi. A lo mejor si ellos est\u00c3\u00a1n el equipo no ganamos ni un juego\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Gustavo Gil se quit\u00c3\u00b3 la camiseta y se qued\u00c3\u00b3 con la sudadera de tres cuartos de manga. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c2\u00bfDe donde saliste t\u00c3\u00ba? \u00c2\u00bfC\u00c3\u00b3mo hiciste para llegar aqu\u00c3\u00ad?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Un torbellino de emociones se agolpaban entre el techo de la habitaci\u00c3\u00b3n de mis hermanos y las paredes del dugout. La ventolera amenazaba con empujarme hacia la casa pero me aguantaba con los dientes apretados a trav\u00c3\u00a9s de las preguntas que le hac\u00c3\u00ada a los peloteros. D\u00c3\u00a1maso me lanz\u00c3\u00b3 una pelota. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Siempre salimos a dar lo mejor de nosotros, est\u00c3\u00a9 qui\u00c3\u00a9n est\u00c3\u00a9 con el equipo. Sabemos que esos dos pitchers lanzaron muy bien, sin embargo a\u00c3\u00ban ten\u00c3\u00adamos equipo para ganar\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Armando Ortiz carraspe\u00c3\u00b3 desde el otro extremo del banco. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153El muchacho tiene raz\u00c3\u00b3n. Belinsky y Campisi hubieran representado una buena garant\u00c3\u00ada de triunfo desde la lomita. Me hubiera gustado saber que hubiese pasado con ellos en el equipo\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. D\u00c3\u00a1maso me lanz\u00c3\u00b3 el guante y arrastr\u00c3\u00b3 los spikes sobre el cemento rustico. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Quiz\u00c3\u00a1s hubi\u00c3\u00a9semos ganado. Pero es muy probable que el ambiente en el dugout no hubiera sido el mejor, porque despu\u00c3\u00a9s que se asume un compromiso contractual, hay que asumirlo hasta el final. La mejor forma de protestar cuando la temporada est\u00c3\u00a1 en curso es dando lo mejor sobre el terreno\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
El muchacho tiene oportunidad de observar una pr\u00c3\u00a1ctica de Wagner y sus compa\u00c3\u00b1eros de equipo en un terreno agreste de la campi\u00c3\u00b1a de Pittsburgh. All\u00c3\u00ad Wagner le comenta \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c3\u2030l que es beisbolista, es beisbolista y sabe lo que tiene que hacer en un terreno de juego. Lo principal es llegar a la caja de bateo y enfocarte en cada movimiento del pitcher desde que lleva la bola al guante hasta que la suelta hacia el plato\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. El muchacho se pone una mano sobre la frente. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Vas a entrar al Sal\u00c3\u00b3n de la Fama junto a Cobb\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
D\u00c3\u00a1maso y Gil llamaron al manager Napole\u00c3\u00b3n Reyes y pronto se form\u00c3\u00b3 un c\u00c3\u00adrculo donde cada pelotero habl\u00c3\u00b3 de lo que hab\u00c3\u00ada significado para ellos compartir en aquel equipo los momentos duros y las victorias, las discusiones, las estrategias, las jugadas de cuadro adentro, los squeeze plays, los pisa y corre y sobre todo esa camarader\u00c3\u00ada de ayudarse mutuamente y disfrutar del juego.<\/p>\n
Luego de caer en una trampa de Cobb para que Wagner no participara en el s\u00c3\u00a9ptimo juego de la Serie Mundial, el muchacho le dice a la novia de Honus que la vida de \u00c3\u00a9l es el b\u00c3\u00a9isbol y la mujer termina rompiendo su compromiso. Despu\u00c3\u00a9s se disculpa ante el airado Wagner. Los Piratas ganan la Serie Mundial. En el momento que Wagner le dice al muchacho que lo dej\u00c3\u00a9 en paz, este se queda mirando la barajita y cuando abre los ojos despierta como ni\u00c3\u00b1o sobre el banco del porche de su casa. Regresa corriendo a la cocina y le dice a sus padres y hermana que va a regresar la barajita. Su mam\u00c3\u00a1 le informa que la anciana est\u00c3\u00a1 grave en el hospital. All\u00c3\u00ad trata de devolverle la barajita y ve la mitad de la foto rasgada donde aparece Wagner. Le pone la barajita en la mano y le dice que si piensa con todas sus ganas en Honus, volver\u00c3\u00a1 con \u00c3\u00a9l para vivir por siempre lo que dejaron ir.<\/p>\n
Me cuelo hasta el centro del grupo y levant\u00c3\u00b3 las manos de Gaston, D\u00c3\u00a1maso, Gil y Ortiz. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153A lo mejor no todos los que est\u00c3\u00a1n aqu\u00c3\u00ad lo vivir\u00c3\u00a1n. Pero el a\u00c3\u00b1o que viene Magallanes ser\u00c3\u00a1 campe\u00c3\u00b3n de la Liga Venezolana y de la Serie del Caribe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. D\u00c3\u00a1maso le gui\u00c3\u00b1\u00c3\u00b3 el ojo a Gil y Gaston sonri\u00c3\u00b3 con Ortiz mientras me tend\u00c3\u00adan un apret\u00c3\u00b3n de manos.<\/p>\n
De nuevo el ni\u00c3\u00b1o viene a tomar turno al final del juego. En cuenta de dos strikes, Wagner se aparece por el left field corto y le grita. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153\u00c3\u2030l que es beisbolista, es beisbolista\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. El ni\u00c3\u00b1o sigue la pelota hasta que se acerca al plato. Un sonido seco dispara una par\u00c3\u00a1bola que sobrevuela los jardines. Las burlas de los rivales se quedaron en las gargantas mientras el ni\u00c3\u00b1o daba la vuelta al ruedo.<\/p>\n
Varios temblores me sacudieron y me levant\u00c3\u00a9 con el coraz\u00c3\u00b3n en la boca. Mis hermanos aparecieron en mi campo visual. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Caramba, ya tenemos como media hora tratando de despertarte. Ya es hora de ir a la escuela. Toda la noche te la pasaste hablando de Belinsky, Campisi, D\u00c3\u00a1maso, Gil, Ortiz. Lo que m\u00c3\u00a1s me llam\u00c3\u00b3 la atenci\u00c3\u00b3n es eso de que Magallanes va a ganar el campeonato y la Serie del Caribe. Ver para creer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n
English Translation<\/strong><\/p>\n Some days ago I enjoyed the TV movie, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Winning Season\u00e2\u20ac\u009d (2004, John Kent Harrison). It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a film about a kid who gets very nervous as he approaches his at bats and always finishes getting struck out. Everything begins to turn around when he finds a Honus Wagner card in the basement of the old woman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s house where he goes to help her with some works. The kid gets back home euphoric because that card is going to solve all the family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s financial troubles. When his parents tell him that he has to give back the card to the old woman, the kid gets very upset, strides outdoors and as he gazes the card, he appears as a teenager in a ballpark. The 1909 World Series is taking place. Honus Wagner plays the shortstop for the Pittsburgh Pirates against Ty Cobb and the Detroit Tigers.<\/p>\n As I saw the movie another film started to run in my mind. It has to do with the Venezuelan Baseball Winter League in its 1968-69 season. Clarence Gaston, Pat Kelly, Joe Rudi, Walter Hriniak, D\u00c3\u00a1maso Blanco, Gustavo Gil, Bob Belinsky, Salvatore Campisi, Armando Ortiz, Roberto Mu\u00c3\u00b1oz, Bill Butler, Ron Tompkins; had put the Magallanes Navigators in the play offs for the first time in three years. Then the team had many troubles because Belinsky and Campisi, two of the team\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prime pitchers left the team because of finacial reasons. When the team lost the game that left it out of contention, I discussed passionately with my older brothers about the reasons why Magallanes stayed out from the fight for the championship. I went to bed very upset with them. I revolved over my body the whole night. In one of those movements I saw myself in the entrance of the first base dugout in the Estadio Universitario. Gaston untied his spikes with his head between his knees. I sat down by his side and asked him: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why did Belinsky and Campisi leave the team?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Gaston raised his glance and put his arms backwards. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know. They had to have their reasons. We lost because we didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t perform all that we should. We could have won without Belinsky nor Campisi, but we were incapable of executing our game\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. D\u00c3\u00a1maso settled the laces of his third baseman glove. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Cito is right. If we had played the way we did the last week of the season we would be playing for the title right now\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. I got up from the bench and went to the inside of a circle of pinstripes uniforms with a ship logo on the left side of the chest. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But Belinsky and Campisi pitched very well. They won key games for the team\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n In the most important moment of The Winning Season, the teenager travels with Honus Wagner and made a stop in the countryside. There, as they rest under a tree, Wagner tells the boy: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What I like most about baseball is that you can make happy so many people, rich and poor, black and white, kids and adults. Not even the money, nor the hierarchy or the best suite in a hotel, have more value to me than that\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n A harsh smell of sweat mixed with the alcamphor vapors. The breeze brought some water particles from the bucket where Roberto Mu\u00c3\u00b1oz has his throwing arm soaked into many ice cubes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Belinsky and Campisi hurled very well, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re right. But they weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t the whole team. Ronnie Tompkins and me won as many games as them. Bill Butler hustled also. We have to recognize that we missed something at the end, but it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t Belinsky, nor Campisi. Maybe if they were with the team, we would have performed worse\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Gustavo Gil took off his jersey and stayed with his \u00c2\u00be sleeve t-shirt. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Where do you come from? How did you manage to be here?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d A hurricane of emotions blew between the ceiling of my brothers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 room and the walls of the dugout. The rough winds menaced with send me back home but I persisted through the questions I made the ballplayers. D\u00c3\u00a1maso tossed me a baseball. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We always go out to play the best for the team, no matter which players are in the team. We know those two pitchers performed very well, but anyway we still had a good team to fight for the title\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. Armando Ort\u00c3\u00adz sneezed from the other extreme of the bench. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The boy is right. Belinsky and Campisi would have meant a great help for the team\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. D\u00c3\u00a1maso threw me the glove and hit the floor with the spikes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Maybe we would have won more games. But the atmosphere in the club house probably wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have been the best. Because once you assume a contractual compromise, you have to respect it to the end. The best way of complaining during the season is by playing your best on the field\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n The boy have the chance of seeing a baseball practice of Wagner and his teammates in the Pitssburgh\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s countryside. There Wagner tells him: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Who is a ballplayer, is a ballplayer and knows what to do in a baseball field. The most important is to reach the home plate and focus yourself into every movement of the pitcher, since he puts the ball in the glove until he releases it to the home plate\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. The kid smiled with a hand on his forehead. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to be in the Hall of Fame along with Ty Cobb\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n D\u00c3\u00a1maso and Gil called the skipper Napoleon Reyes. They started a meeting in a round table way where every player talked about what have meant to share the tough moments and the victories in that team, the discussions, the strategies, the signals and overall the camaraderie of helping each other while enjoying the game.<\/p>\n After falling in a Cobb\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s trick to avoid Wagner from playing the seventh game of the 1909 World Series, the kid tells Wagner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s girlfriend that his life is the baseball game, and the woman breaks her compromise with Wagner. Afterwards the kid apologizes to Honus for both faults. Wagner gets very upset, but anyway the Pirates win the World Series. After the game Wagner tells the boy \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Leave me alone\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. The boy keeps looking at the card and when he opens his eyes, he wakes up as a kid in the porch of his home. He goes back to the kitchen and tells his parents and sister, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to give back the card. His mother tells him the old woman is very sick at the hospital. There he tries to give her back the card and sees the broken picture where appears Wagner. He deposits the card in her hands and tells her that if she thinks with all of her heart in Honus, she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be back with him forever.<\/p>\n I approached the circle\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s center and raised the hands of Gaston, D\u00c3\u00a1maso, Gil and Ort\u00c3\u00adz. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Maybe, not everybody here will experience it. But next year Magallanes will win the Venezuelan Winter League Baseball season championship and the Caribbean Series too\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. The players smiled among them as they offered me a high five.<\/p>\n Again the kid is coming to bat at the end of the game. When he has two strikes in the count, Wagner appears in the shallow left field and shouts: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Who is a ballplayer, is a ballplayer\u00e2\u20ac\u009d. The kid follows the ball until it approaches home plate. A deep sound describes a parabole that flies over center field. The rivals\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 jokes remained in their mouths as the kid trotted his home run.<\/p>\n Several trembling moved my bed and I woke up very scared. My brothers were laughing. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Come on. We have like half an hour trying to wake you up. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s school time. All night long you kept talking about Belinsky, Campisi, D\u00c3\u00a1maso, Gil, Ortiz. What most impressed us was that Magallanes is going to win the championship and the Caribbean Series. We have to see to believe\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1523\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}