PREPARING
By Fred C. Klein
On Sunday I will be throwing out the first pitch at the (Mets minor league team) Coney Island Cyclones game (against the Yankees Hudson Valley minor league team).
This is a great honor (bestowed upon me by my Gotham City Networking colleagues, especially Rosalia Ruberto and Corey Bearak) and I am both most appreciative and bigly apprehensive…
I am apprehensive because vindicating the honor requires me to stand (on the rubber on the pitching mound 60′ 6″ from home plate) and deliver (a well thrown overhand strike)!
The problems facing me are my pride and my well worn left arm.
I have not thrown overhand in years and when I tried 3 weeks ago it was not a happy reunion. To say I was rusty is an understatement.
Nonetheless, desperately wanting not to embarrass myself (see all the videos of celebrities failing miserably on their First Pitch) I embarked on a self designed crash pitching program with the help of my wife Joanne, son David and personal trainer Suzanne.
Slowly but surely, my arm loosened and I’ve shown progressive improvement, but it’s touch and go as to how well I will Stand and Deliver Sunday.
I have tried to visualize myself winding up and delivering a sizzling “Heater”, but so far it hasn’t come into focus. Nonetheless, I will keep on preparing until I step on the Cyclones mound.
After all, as Steve Jobs said “The journey is the reward”!
PS I do have the oft used option of throwing a shorter distance from the front of the mound. We shall see…
It helped me to channel Roger Federer in my tennis days. Hmm, lefties, our generation, say Warren Spahn?
Also, under great pressure, say second serve ad out, I would psyche myself by saying, “I love this. This is MY house. I love these challenges because I ALWAYS WIN.”
Self-delusion is a powerful tool.