'It takes more grace than I can tell
To play the second fiddle well.'
Wait, What!?!? What does that mean? Second fiddle? We're not talking about the opera here, we're talking about baseball, right? Let me explain, but first here is Bumgarner's quote about winning the NLCS MVP immediately after the game. Sure, everyone says this kind of stuff, yeah, yeah....but this team is full of guys like this that defer credit to their teammates.
from Giants Extra:
POSTGAME NOTES: Morse makes good on Bum's call; Ishikawa has "career-defining" moment; Affeldt shows off the wheels - Giants Extra:
"— Madison Bumgarner gave up a couple of homers but got through the eighth, and that helped the Giants immensely. You could tell tonight that the bullpen was gassed. For that, and for Game 1, Bumgarner was named NLCS MVP.
“I’m truly thankful and honored for that,” he said. “I don’t think you can go wrong, you can pick anybody. We had so many guys play a big part in every game.”
Bumgarner picked up the trophy on the stage. And then he picked up six beers, one more than the last round …"'via Blog this'
This is a team that lives and breathes the Leonard Bernstein quote above and those who are musically inclined probably know where I'm going with this, but remember how the Fox announcers gushed at how hard it was to get Buster Posey to talk about himself, he wouldn't do it he was so busy deflecting credit to his teammates and felt more comfortable talking about them rather than himself.
THE WHOLE OF THIS TEAM IS GREATER THAN THE SUM OF THE PARTS FOR THIS REASON: THEY HAVE A TON OF GUYS WHO WILLINGLY AND ABLY PLAY A GREAT SECOND FIDDLE.
It's the epitome of that elusive quality called team chemistry and it's the reason why the Giants win in October even though the pundits, the so-called experts downplay their chances for success. The Giants have great second fiddlers and everyone is looking at the first violin players.
http://books.google.com/books?id=cV_56vfs2_wC&pg=PA78#v=onepage&q&f=false
The conductor of a symphony orchestra was once asked what is the most difficult instrument to play. He responded, "Second violin. I can find plenty of first violinists, but to find someone who can play second violin with enthusiasm -- that is a problem. And if we have no second violin, we have no harmony.
The Background:
http://www.ldolphin.org/johnmark.html
'It takes more grace than I can tellTo play the second fiddle well.'
A statement attributed to the late Leonard Bernstein, the famous conductor of the New York Philharmonic, states: 'The hardest instrument in the orchestra to play is second fiddle.'
A fellow named Bo Bradham attended a fiddle camp in September of 1996 and wrote about that experience. The story is recounted of a fiddler from Texas named Randy Elmore who was at a 'jam session' the first night of camp. Bo states that [Randy] sat there quietly, and every time Mark [O'Conner, an accomplish fiddler in his own right] played a tune, Randy was right there with the second fiddle part. 'Playing second fiddle' has become synonymous with being out of the limelight, not the lead dog, but you know and I know just how hard it is to do, and how uncommon it is for someone to be really good at it. Moreover, it speaks volumes about someone to volunteer for that difficult but unglamorous part. I was intrigued by Bo's statement so I contacted Randy Elmore in order to get an understanding of what it means to play second fiddle.[2]
I was fascinated to learn that the fiddle and the violin are the exact same instrument. The only difference between them, however, is the musician and the music being played on the instrument. For example, the instrument is called a violin when the musician plays classical music in an orchestra at Carnegie Hall. The same instrument is called a fiddle when the musician plays Bluegrass music or other 'non-classical- music for events such as a square dance, or a ho-down, at the State Fair.
The irony of the moment is not lost on me that this arrived in my mailbox today and it might seem as if I am "forcing" the theme somewhat. I receive a quarterly hard copy of the series in advance via snail mail and had read ahead into mid_October and bookmarked this passage specifically for further research.The person playing first fiddle plays the melody. This is the tune that people know and the audience listens for at a concert. Mr. Elmore chuckled when he said that, in reality, the first fiddle is the boring part because the fiddler only plays the melody and should not deviate from it. The second fiddle, on the other hand, plays the harmony. Mr. Elmore thought this was the fun part because the fiddler could be creative with the harmony and do fancy finger work. This is the harder part because the fiddler must know how to harmonize the music as well as play higher notes as he moves his fingers up the throat of the fiddle. It takes much practice to play this part well. The purpose of the second fiddle is to play a supporting role and compliment the first fiddle, thus making the first fiddle look and sound good. The audience does not realize that the second fiddler is playing his heart out in order to make the first fiddler look good; yet the second fiddler does not get any credit for what is played. Thus, this part is unglamorous.
http://www.scriptureunion.org/daily%20bible%20devotions/encounter%20with%20god/2014/10/17/playing-second-fiddle
To see the details play themselves out in such dramatic fashion was to say the least serendipitous.
This as well. Travis Ishikawa shows once again the eternal beauty of the game. You can indeed go home again. Such a great story of perseverance and faith.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMSqb1I5xuY
HD Travis Ishikawa Gives His Testimony at SF Giants Fellowship Day 8/16/14 AT&T Park
THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!!!
Ishikawa's walk-off homer
http://m.mlb.com/video/?content_id=36821231&topic_id=6479266
Baseball was and is about redemption after losses, even devastating losses. It’s the game that is most like life. It is a game of children played by adults. In what other sport can you get a hit only one try out of three, failing two thirds of the time, and end up in a Hall of Fame? None. None that I know of. Thank goodness life is more like baseball than football. In what other sport can you fail magnificently, completely, repeatedly, in double digits, and still go on to win a world championship?
Most of us cannot identify with transcendent athletes like a Michael Jordan or a Deion Sanders, or an Albert Pujols. They are way beyond our reach or pay grade. But if you love baseball, you can dream of being little Ryan Theriot, a good fielder. Or an Eric Hinske. The thing about baseball is it really does confirm to you that even the ordinary person under extraordinary circumstances can do the extraordinary, can transcend the mundane and shine for a moment.
Well last night, our faith in humanity was restored once again. The Cards did not merely beat the long odds… they stomped that sucker flat. They refused to die, refused to quit, refused to give up. Sometimes athletes just go through the motions, day after day. They have lost their joy of playing, lost the child-like glee in doing something well for its own sake. Not so in this World Series. Both those teams to a man let it all hang out and left it on the field. They did not play like professionals. They played like kids (see the picture above). They played like Ernie Banks did, who once said “let’s play two”.
Our country and our American culture has become much coarser over the span of my lifetime. When I was a child, you could never see WWF body destroying bloodsport on TV. You would never glorify taunting. Indeed you could be kicked off a team for bad sportsmanship. Today however it is not about ‘how you play the game’. It’s all about just win baby, at any cost— even at the cost of cheating with drugs, or deliberate attempts to harm someone else by throwing your body at them.
But frankly, life is not all about winning at any and all costs. It’s about character, shown even when no one is watching. It’s about the good, the true, the beautiful. It’s about sportsmanship, about caring about others. It’s about not even wanting to win unless it could be done in the right and moral way. It’s even about loving your noble and worthy adversaries.
We got glimpses of the good, the true, and the beautiful during this World Series if you were watching. Both teams left their hearts and souls out there on the field, for the good of the common cause. They knew the game was not about them as individuals so much as it was about the good of the team. Baseball is a morality play…. not a video game. But then life is a morality play as well.
