A day removed from attending his father's funeral in Connecticut, Toronto Blue Jay shortstop and all-around nice guy John McDonald walked into the team's dressing room with a home run in mind. A home run he had promised to his father Jack in his final days of battling liver cancer. McDonald entered the season with 13 homers in 1,713 at-bats. Needless to say he is not much of a power hitter, but on this day there were greater things than potential and statistics in play.
In the ninth inning of a blowout loss to the San Francisco Giants, ironically enough on Father's Day, Johnny Mac crushed a hanging breaking ball to left for a two-run home run. The video of the home run and post-game interview are a perfect testament of how sports are about more than money, fame and all the luxuries that come with it.
As a child, I recall playing catch in the yard with my father and talking all things baseball with him. It was, and still is a common bond we share that is much more about family than sports. This is way I can imagine and understand the bond John and Jack McDonald shared, and perhaps why I still get a little choked-up every time I watch the video of that day and the way Johnny Mac cries when he laments that all he wanted to do after the game was call his dad.
No comments:
Post a Comment