“Close don’t count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”
This phrase is used to say that if you come close to success without succeeding, it is not good enough.
So I went to the store today, I had previously purchased a $10 lottery ticket, and low and behold, I won! Well, since I won $20 from $10, I took that and purchased myself two more $10 tickets. I already spent the cash on the tickets, so why not “let it roll!”
LOOSER! Sometimes you have to loose if you want to try and win.
Well I am definitely not, but in that purchase I was. So I took that gambling spirit, I went to my version of an online casino, NiceHash.com, and threw down .0001 BTC, Bitcoin which I mine in my Crypto Currency thread.
Risk vs Reward… for $2.73, if my miners clocked out, I had a $55.37 reward. I fell short, but I was so close, I am thinking of trying again.
Of course it didn’t end there with Nice Hash, no… A second time:
NBL
Signature Game
Apr. 8, 1975 – On opening day in Cleveland, Jackie Robinson was greeted by a thunderous ovation from the crowd of 56,204 when he was introduced as the new Indians manager. A little later, however, the volume of that cheering paled before the hysteria in the stands when Robinson, in the lineup as the designated hitter, homered against the Yankees’ Doc Medich in his first at-bat as the major leagues’ first African-American manager. Robinson was only following orders from general manager Phil Seghi, who told him to homer his first time up. The day’s indelible moment was captured in the now-famous photograph of Robinson crossing the plate and being congratulated by his centerfielder, George Hendrick. When the 39-year-old Robinson walked in his last plate appearance, first-base coach Tom McCraw offered some mock advice to his boss. “There’s one out,” McCraw said. “Get a good jump on the ball and score on a single.” Robinson laughed – for neither the first nor the last time that day. After the Indians’ 5-3 win, the player-manager didn’t celebrate his first managerial victory with champagne, but with a hamburger, a piece of cake and a Coke.
When Robinson was a junior at McClymonds High School in Oakland, he played guard on a basketball team that won the Northern California league championship. The center was Bill Russell. When Robinson hit .424 as a senior, it wasn’t the highest average on the McClymonds team. Sophomore Curt Flood batted .429. Robinson played in six All-Star Games for the National League and five for the American League. In his first year with the Reds in 1956, Robinson established a 20th century rookie record by being hit by a pitch 20 times. Robinson’s greatest boner also occurred when he was a rookie.
Against the Phillies, Robinson, who was on second base, was called out for missing third on a single. In 1959, Robinson’s hard slide into Milwaukee Braves third baseman Eddie Mathews precipitated the first on-field brawl between a black and a white star. The following year, Robinson also tangled with Phillies pitcher Robin Roberts after Reds pitcher Raul Sanchez had hit three batters in an inning. In what is perhaps the greatest testament to his productivity as a hitter, Robinson led the major leagues in intentional walks four consecutive seasons (1961-64). The Orioles retired his No. 20 in 1972, after they traded him to Los Angeles. In the last five of his 21 seasons, he didn’t higher than .266 and his lifetime average dropped from .302 to .294. He retired in 1976 just 57 hits shy of 3,000. Robinson hit over .300 nine times in his career, with a high of .342 with the Reds in 1962. While Robinson had 11 30-homer seasons, he reached 40 only once.
When he belted 49 with the Orioles in 1966, it was the only time baseball’s No. 4 all-time home-run hitter (with 586) led the league in homers. Robinson had six 100-RBI seasons, four times going over 120. His high was 136 with the Reds in 1962. In five World Series (one with the Reds and four with the Orioles), Robinson batted .250 with eight homers in 92 at-bats. When he was named manager of the Indians in October 1974, Robinson told the media, “If I had one wish in the world today, it would be that [the late] Jackie Robinson could be here to see this happen.”
When Robinson’s Orioles faced Cito Gaston’s Blue Jays on June 27, 1989, it marked the first time in major-league history that two African-American managers faced each other. Baltimore won, 16-6. Robinson’s record as a manager was 680-751 (.475). His best seasons were 1982 with the Giants and 1989 with the Orioles, when he compiled identical 87-75 records, which were good for a third- and a second-place finish, respectively.
He was named Manager of the Year in each of those seasons (1982 by UPI and 1989 by the Baseball Writers Association of America). Few people remember that it was Robinson who first said, “Close don’t count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” The quote appeared in Time magazine (July 31, 1973). Robinson has been an outspoken critic of free agency and its consequences.
In 1989, he said, “Managers don’t have as much leverage as they used to have. We can’t really be the boss. If I say to a veteran player, ‘If you don’t perform, you may be sent back to the minors,’ they look at me and say, ‘Who are you kidding? I’m not going anyplace. I’ve already had three years in the major leagues. You can’t send me back to the minor leagues without my OK.'” As an Oriole coach, he once lamented: “The fan is the one who suffers. He cheers a guy for a .350 season, then watches that player sign with another team. When you destroy fan loyalties, you destroy everything.”
Robinson was ticked off that the Indians didn’t observe the 25th anniversary as his debut as baseball’s first African-American manager on Cleveland’s home opener in 2000.
