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Thoughts from an Unconstrained Practitioner Should Same-sex Couples Have Standing To Jointly Adopt In Illinois? ©
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DCBA Brief's President's Message HITTING THAT SWEET SPOT A client of mine in Addison has a machine
shop. With his plant tour, we stopped to watch a punch press banging
out parts at the rate of about fifty a minute. The owner says, "Every
time this machine hits, I make 75 cents." During our lunch meeting,
I could still hear that darn machine clanking out money. That cinches
it, my hourly rate needs to go up. Lawyers don’t own machines, we
are the machine. Being a good lawyer can be a beat-down. We all need
those moments, hours or days when we can turn off the noise. Here’s
one of mine – I’d like to hear what yours is.
Stepping into the
batter’s box, I like to take one long, deep breath. Feet squared up.
One measuring swing. The modern metal bat is an unbelievable weapon.
All you have to do is squarely meet the target and the ball jumps off.
It’s called the "trampoline effect" and I’ve seen its
effect nearly knock the chin off a slow reacting third baseman. A
major league player would hit the ball over 600 feet with this thing.
Eyes now on the pitcher. Not the whole pitcher, just his glove. The
ball is there. Having watched him throw, I know where his release
point is. Hands raised and ready for my "hitch." Head stays
down, eyes glued. Hands go back and weight shifts back to the right
leg. Fast ball! (O.K. ….at my age that means about 70-75 M.P.H. and
straight. It’s all relative.) Inside, a little low. Left foot rocks
back and then ….shift. It starts with a good left hip turn. Then
come the hands (not the arms ….this is fast pitch, not 16").
Eyes and hands. With the hip turn the front part of the left foot
"squishes the bug." Bat speed, which creates momentum and
location, are all you need. Snap the wrists over and …. When the bat hits
right, it rings and vibrates like a bell in your hands. You can feel
and hear a good hit before you see it. Three steps out of the box, I
can see both the left and center fielders turning their backs on the
infield. That’s a good sign. Time to breathe again and prepare for a
rounded turn of first base. The ball one-hops the fence in left
center. An easy stroll into second. Safely there, it’s time to look
into my dugout and smile. I play baseball primarily to play the field,
but obviously the ringing bat is a memorable moment and the memory of
it gives me pause to reflect on a life after lawyering. Sometimes,
that’s all we can ask for. Whether you walk, ride
a bike, play golf, swim, hit the health club or do yoga stretches,
whatever it is YOU do, keep doing it. My father worked, had no hobbies
and smoked. Not a good combination, which had a very lousy ending. His
four sons are all active and smoke free. Take your own cleansing
breath. Put your mind in that "moment" like mine just was.
Visualize, talk it out. Relax ….lower the blood pressure of your own
work machine. Have a nice spring. Glenn Gaffney plays outfield, shortstop and pitcher for the Kishwaukee River Bandits in the Chicago North Men’s Senior Baseball League (cnmsbl.com). In the summer of 2006 he led the 48-and-over twelve team division with 11 doubles, along with a batting average of .408, 18 runs scored and 8 stolen bases. Typically, he is one of the first to greet his teammates at the sports bar after the game. |
