Stereotypes are horrible things. They take what should be complex, nuanced and novel and turn it into simplistic, linear and banal. Terrible, terrible things, stereotypes,
Exceeeeept! They often turn out to be disconcertingly accurate. Upsets our whole cognitive system, that does. Makes me fear that all the deep seated analysis we all do is just window dressing. That deserves a major, “Haaarumph.”
This disconcerting moment is especially common in baseball. There are now more ways to quantify a baseball game than anything other than a computer can track, but team stereotypes seem to hold on to their validity like a pinch hitter grabs his bat. Chokes it, he does.
We expect the Red Sox to sock the ball all over Fenway Park, and generally speaking they do. We expect the Bronx Bombers to bomb away; and when they don’t, like this year, we scratch our heads.
We expect the Mets offense to be anemic, and they usually don’t disappoint, especially when Jacob deGrom is on the mound. When he finally enters into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he may do so with the lowest ERA compared to total wins of any pitcher in history. Poor Jake pitches gem after gem while getting about as much run support as Joe Biden would get political support at the Republican Convention. In other words, none.
So when deGrom took the mound recently against The Nationals, always a tough game for the Mets, we all expected more of the same. Jake would pitch a beauty for seven innings and the Mets would lose the game in the eighth or ninth.
Jake’s reaction was, “Step aside, fellas. I’ve got this.” And he did.
Not only did he pitch a complete game shut out, about as rare these days as finding gold in an old attic box, but he drove in the only run he would need and then scored another — just to make sure — on a home run that made it 6-0.
You had to feel a little sorry for the Nationals, who seem a bit offensively challenged themselves this year, because they were mowed down by a record number of strike outs and about as perfectly pitched a game as you will find south of a no-hitter.
If Jacob deGrom has any desire to become a stereotype, he had better start wearing a long red cape, high boots and tights because what he does on the mound belongs in a comic book of super heroes.
Millerton resident Theodore Kneeland is a former teacher and coach — and athlete.
Cella’s paintings are tucked in almost every available space thoughout Little Store Antiques. L. Tomaino
