As Sammy Lopez walked off the Winter Haven field after Tuesday’s game he declared, “that game was a heartbreaker”.
I think all of us have had our heart broken at some time or another. Sometimes a broken heart is very serious matter and requires a lot of attention. At other times, like in a softball game; it’s just a passing emotional response.
How do you mend a broken heart? That is the topic that many writers, musicians and philosophers have tried to answer. There is no easy answer to that question. Some good advice is to try to occupy your life with the good things, friends, activities, and other healthy endeavors. Time tends to soften the pain of a broken heart.
The bible states in Psalms 34:18, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” I know that I have experienced God’s grace, in healing a broken heart.
Several bands have written songs about heart break; The Stones wrote “Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Heartbreaker”, Pat Benatar wrote “Heartbreaker”, Elvis recorded his best seller, “Heartbreak Hotel”.
The Elvis song lyrics were based on a newspaper article about the suicide of a lonely man who jumped from a hotel window. The song was presented to Presley in November 1955 at a country music convention in Nashville. Presley agreed to record it, and did so on January 10, 1956 in a session that featured his band, the Blue Moon Boys, as well as guitarist Chet Atkins and pianist Floyd Cramer. The single topped Billboard's Top 100 chart for seven weeks and was Elvis’s first million dollar seller. Richey Marino continues to make the Elvis song popular today in Winter Haven Senior Softball, by crooning it from time to time in the dugout.
Clint Eastwood directed and starred in the movie “Heartbreak Ridge”. The story about an aging gunny sergeant who whips a slack platoon into shape. One of the memorable quotes from the movie comes from Sergeant Highway, “I’ll make life takers and heart breakers out of them sir”.
Mark Twain said this in regard to romantic heartbreak, “Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.”
I labeled the three teams after Sammy’s heartbreak quote.
The hitting team, Heartbreak Hotel, consisted of F. Gonzalez, Alumbaugh, Zelazny, Jacobs, Lopez, Giordano, Herb O, (Elvis) Marino, Matta, Moots, Barnes and Sterit.
The sitting team, The Heartaches, were made up of these players: Coffman, Laffoon, DeRidder, T. Smith, M. Gonzalez, Butler, Pepin, Simon, Wells, Leggett, Merritt, L. Baker.
The fielding team, Heartbreak Ridge, had a lineup of Rivera, Dampier, Witmer, R. Torrez, Schapeler, King, Constantine, J. Smith, Powell, Mohan and Gibson.
The Heartaches must have batted all game with a broken heart and maybe some broken bats. They only scored 6 runs the entire game. Cheer up guys, as Tom Hanks reminded us in the movie “A League Of Their Own”, there is no crying in baseball, or in our case softball.
Jimmy Dugan: Evelyn, could you come here, you got a second? Which team do you play for?
Evelyn Gardner: Well, I'm a Peach.
Jimmy Dugan: Well I was just wonderin' why you would throw home when we got a two-run lead. You let the tying run get on second base and we lost the lead because of you. Start using your head. That's the lump that's three feet above your ass.
[Evelyn starts to cry]
Jimmy Dugan: Are you crying? Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING? There's no crying! THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL!
Doris Murphy: Why don't you give her a break, Jimmy...
Jimmy Dugan: Oh, you zip it, Doris! Rogers Hornsby was my manager, and he called me a talking pile of pigxxxx. And that was when my parents drove all the way down from Michigan to see me play the game. And did I cry?
Evelyn Gardner: No, no, no.
Jimmy Dugan: Yeah! NO. And do you know why?
Evelyn Gardner: No...
Jimmy Dugan: Because there's no crying in baseball. THERE'S NO CRYING IN BASEBALL! No crying!
The real competition in Tuesday’s action was between the “Heartbreak Hotel” team and the “Heartbreak Ridge” team. These two squads were determined to “love em and leave em”. By that, I mean both teams loved scoring runs and wanted to leave the other team in the dust. After five innings of play the score was 16-3-13, in favor of the hitting team, Heartbreak Hotel.
As Elvis and Richey would have sung, “Well, since my baby left me, I found a new place to dwell. It's down at the end of Home Plate at Heartbreak Hotel.”
That lead would not last for long, the Heartbreak Ridge team tied the game in the bottom of the 6th inning. They scored 3 runs when Dampier, Witmer and R. Torres crossed the plate. Torrez had the big hit that inning, a triple to right field. He scored the tying run on a Russ King single to center.
With the game tied, it set up a heartbreaker 7th inning. The hitting team, Heartbreak Hotel, took the lead in their 1/3 of the inning, when the top of the lineup managed to score a run. Freddy Gonzalez crossed the plate after Frank Jacobs lifted a sacrifice fly to right field.
The Heartaches never were in the competition, however, they managed to score 2 runs in their last at bat of the 7th inning.
With the score standing at 17-6-16 the Heartbreak Ridge team came up to bat, with the bottom of the batting order due up. Sergeant Highway’s quote, from the Heartbreak Ridge movie, must have been ringing in their batters ears. “We will blaze a path into battle for others to follow. Surrender is not in our creed.”
The home team took advantage of their last at bat, they charged the field scoring the needed 2 runs for a victory. J. Smith, Mohan and Rivera all contributed key hits to give their team the win and break the hearts of the two other teams. I know the Tom Hanks quote is correct, there is no crying in baseball, however, a part of me wanted to shed a tear after losing such a tough game.
Final score: Heartbreak Hotel 17- Heartaches 6- Heartbreak Ridge 18.
‘You make me so lonely baby, I get so lonely, I get so lonely I could die.” Heartbreak Hotel lyrics.
Leading Hitters:
- Rivera: 4/5 with two doubles.
- Dampier: 4/ 4 with four doubles.
- Torres: 3 / 4 with a triple.
- King: 3/ 4.
- Constantine: 3 / 4.
- Powell: 3 / 4.
- Mohan: 3 / 4.
- DeRidder: 4/ 4.
- M. Gonzalez: 3/ 3.
- Simon: 2 / 3.
- Merritt: 2 / 3.
- L. Baker: 1/ 2 and a walk.
- F.Gonzalez: 4 / 4.
- Alumbaugh: 3 / 4.
- Zelazny: 2 / 3 and a walk.
- Lopez: 3 / 4.
- Herb O: 2/ 3 with a grand slam.
- Matta: 2/ 2 and a walk.
Submitted by Nick Matta
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