Dirk Hayhurst

The following is an excerpt from an email my wife exchanged with an individual looking for help with his Garfoosling, concerning language development skills. I hope anyone out there looking for similar advice finds this useful. Bold words added by Mr. Garfoose.

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I’ve always contested that of our two jobs, my wife’s is the more relevant. In fact, I believe that most jobs are more relevant than baseball. There are some who argue this point with me, saying that baseball brings joy to people’s lives and provides role models and thus plays an important role in our social structure. However, I fail to see how that makes baseball unique from several other profession that could easily do the same, and do it better. What I mean to say is, I don’t think baseball provides a service on par with many of the other services in our world that don’t receive the glory and attention that ball does. If you’ve read my book (#plug!), you may remember a line about baseball not being as important as roles like Doctor or Peacemaker or Solider etc… None the less, the role of Baseball Player is compensated and heralded in ways that make it seem infinitely more important. Still, I come back to a thought that seems to run through my mind every year around this time, when baseball seems to take center stage in many people’s lives: take baseball out of the world and the world will keep spinning, but if you remove some of those other professions, it may very well stop. (more…)

Behold! The Ten Commandments of Social Networking as a professional athlete.

1) Be yourself. Don’t have your agent, your media guy, or your “people” post on your behalf. That’s lame, and it always sounds like someone selling school fundraiser tickets is tweeting as you. Even if you only post once in a blue moon, fans want to hear from you, not your representation. Language and the way you use it says a lot about who you are.

2) Don’t do this because you want attention. If you do, you’ll find yourself becoming something you aren’t, pandering for compliments or arguing with people who don’t like you. There should be purpose behind your interaction on social media; because you want to let fans see the real you, creating awareness for a cause, or just meeting people and having fun. If you do it because you want people to tell you how great you are, not only will you be disappointed, but you’ll become shallow, posting because you need to get your fix. Worthwhile attention is something best sought elsewhere through more understanding mediums where people can’t tell you, “YOU SUCK!” then log off. (more…)

On the third day of our series in Colorado Springs we were snowed out.

The second game, a businessman special, was played in sunny 60 degree weather. Come 9 p.m. that night, snow was falling. It came down fast, in fine mountain country fashion, smothering the area in 4 to 6 inches of fluffy white powder.

Off days are a rare commodity in the minors, we get only a handful sprinkled in a 142 game season. When an extra shows up, it’s to be enjoyed.

However, a nature-made off day in a road trip town is not as fun as you would think. The hotel is typically underwhelming We don’t have cars or bulging billfolds. Walking distance options are usually limited. Even so, special days require an equally special event to mark it.

A group of the boys and I decided to seize the day and venture out. Beyond the snow filled parking lots of the Spring’s hotel was nothing remarkable, save for one place. A cafe joint, close by, Greek, tinted windows lit with a neon beer sign. (more…)