Ted showed Josh pictures of his Marine exploits, and told him about being shot down in Korea. He gave him the full load: the mission, the attack, the ordnance involved, his eventual crash landing. He said his favorite song, right behind "God Bless America," was "The Marine Hymn." He said when people asked to know "a little bit about me," in the way of summarizing, "I say, 'I was a Marine . . . It was the best team I ever played for."
- John Underwood on Ted Williams
________
Sacrifice. 1. Primarily, the slaughter of an animal (often including the subsequent consumption of it by fire) as an offering to God or a deity.
2. That which is offered in sacrifice; a victim immolated on the altar; anything (material or immaterial) offered to God or a deity as an act of propitiation or homage.
3. The offering by Christ of Himself to the Father as a propitiatory victim in his voluntary immolation upon the cross; the Crucifixion in its sacrificial character.
4. The destruction or surrender of something valued or desired for the sake of something having, or regarded as having, a higher or a more pressing claim.
b. A victim; one sacrificed to the will of another; also, a person or thing that falls into the power of an enemy or a destructive agency.
- The Oxford English Dictionary
________
sacrifice 1. n. A sacrifice hit. Abbrev. S, 1; sac. 1st Use. 1880 (Chicago Inter-Ocean, June 29; Edward J. Nichols). 2. v. To make a sacrifice hit. 3. v. To advance a baserunner by means of a sacrifice hit. Etymology. From the concept of a batter giving himself up for the good of the team by advancing or scoring a teammate.
sacrifice bunt A sacrifice hit in which a bunted ball with less than two outs advances one or more baserunners and the batter is put out at first base, or would have been put out except for a fielder's error. The batter is not credited with an official at-bat and may be credited with a run batted in if a baserunner scores. A sacrifice bunt is not credited to the batter if any runner is put out attempting to advance one base or when, in the judgment of the official scorer, the batter is bunting primarily for a base hit. Compare drag bunt. 1st Use. 1935. "A sacrifice bunt is a bunted ball laid down for a like purpose."
sacrifice fly A sacrifice hit in which a fly ball or line drive, either fair or foul, with less than two outs, is caught but hit deep enough for an outfielder (or an infielder running in the outfield) to handle and to allow one or more baserunners to tag up and score. It has been typified as a "bunt with muscles." The batter is not credited with an official at-bat, but is credited with a run batted in ...."
- Paul Dickson, The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary
________
Eddie Murray, Cal Ripken, Robin Yount, Hank Aaron, Frank Thomas, George Brett, Rusty Staub, Don Baylor, Gary Sheffield. What do these ballplayers have in common? They are career leaders when it comes to hitting sacrifice flies in the realm of major league baseball. Dan Haren, Wade Davis, Jeff Francis, and CC Sabathia currently rank among AL leaders in "sacrifice bunts off," a curious distinction.
Sac fly, sac bunt, sac hit, sacrifice hitter. I like a game in which there aren't just late-inning heroics, but quieter acts that often go unnoticed. I admire the athlete who adopts the concept of sacrifice in a strategic approach to winning.
Ted Williams, Yogi Berra, Bob Feller, Larry Doby, Duke Snider, Ralph Kiner and many more Hall of Famers once welcomed risks of a different order altogether. Their names quietly grace a special plaque that stands at the entrance to baseball's hallowed chamber. Lat. Sacrificium. Sacred. Sacrosanct. Sacrament. Consecrate. Sacrifice.
The number of major league players who served in the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Merchant Marines, and Navy during World War II is truly staggering. U.K. citizen and self-described "amateur baseball historian" Gary Bedingfield has gone the distance in honoring the ultimate sacrifices of numerous athletes in his masterful tribute, Baseball's Dead of World War II as well as in a blog, Baseball in Wartime, which memorializes many hitherto unsung heroes. There is nothing whatsoever amateurish about Bedingfield's profound contributions to the game and to our nation's history.
Killed in action. Died from wounds. Died in hospital. Auto Accident. Killed in Action. Killed in Action. Plane Crash. Plane Crash. Plane Crash. Military Accident. Died from Illness. Lost at Sea. The list goes on and on and on and on. Visit the Baseball in Wartime site and read vertically the various causes of death; the mere act of considering that long, long list of fatalities while contemplating the nature of loss and sacrifice is a sobering way in which we fortunate ones, the beneficiaries of freedom, might begin to honor our dead.
In baseball and in war, there are both heroes and nameless ones. Heroic acts are performed on the playing field and on the battlefield, together with countless acts of sacrifice that will never show up in any box score.
Today I honor the noble memory of American heroes and mourn the names upon names upon names of the dead, including those who left the game they loved and traveled to distant shores and skies, never to return to life from fields of war; the named and unnamed individuals whose formidable acts of sacrifice enter a realm that is beyond words.
To fallen soldiers let us sing,
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing,
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord.
No more bleeding, no more fight,
No prayers pleading through the night,
Just divine embrace, eternal light
In the Mansions of the Lord.
Where no mothers cry and no children weep,
We will stand and guard though the angels sleep,
All through the ages safely keep
The Mansions of the Lord.
- Randall Wallace
please click here to listen and remember
I really salute him. I always thinking about our country soldiers. They stay away from their family because of our security. We must give them moral support.
Posted by: Table Pads | 06/27/2011 at 11:16 PM
we know that the army force protecting us that's why we are sleeping nicely. They give so much sacrifice for the nation.
Posted by: sports supplements | 07/06/2011 at 11:32 PM