I used to pitch a little. I was a better hitter than a pitcher, but I had a lot more natural talent for the mound. I threw very hard and generally should have been a top hurler for whatever teams I played on. There was just one problem: whenever I took the mound I became a stark raving lunatic. I don't know what the hell it was about pitching (as opposed to hitting) that drove me so nuts, but I would immediately become the worst person I knew whenever I tried to pitch. A few years later I had no problems pitching fast pitch, so it may have just been competitive ball combined with my being a teenager, but I look back at how I was as a pitcher and I shudder at how completely out of control I was.

I mention this because I was reminded of it today when I saw Brett Tomko (trying to make the Royals rotation) endure a terrible string of rotten luck due to the winds in Surprise. After a fourth inning where he was victimized by a series of broken bat bleeders and scratch hits, the fifth inning went from bad to absurd. A ground ball to third with a bad throw to first was followed by a fly ball to center lost in the sun which was followed by an infield pop-up that landed in between the second baseman and shortstop. Two runs on two hits and no outs. Back in my day, I'd have shouted a stream of obscenities and hurled the rosin bag at my shortstop. Tomko acted like a true pro and struck out the next hitter before being removed by the Royals Manager, Hillman. No tantrums, he didn't even shake his head. They would have had to remove me from the stadium in a straight-jacket.

And I guess that's what it means to be a pro at anything. To understand all of the ways things can go wrong that aren't totally your fault and continue to do your job to the best of your ability. You can only hope that others in charge recognize that your efforts were greater than the results, and accept things even if they don't. Kudos to Brett Tomko for not showing up his teammates by doing all of the things I was guilty of back as a kid.

NOTE: Ran into Keith Law today in the Press Box. He talked a little about Alexei Ramirez and Mike Moustakas and then went off to the minor league game where Moustakas was playing. Always nice to see Keith.