🇺🇸 Most Badass Ballplayers: Combat Veteran Edition #1 Hank Bauer
Hank Bauer, United States Marine and eight-time World Series champion, was one badass ballplayer.
Born July 31, 1922, in East St. Louis, Illinois.
One month after Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.
He volunteered for the elite Marine Raiders and was sent to the Pacific Theater.
He fought in some of the bloodiest campaigns of the war, including Guadalcanal, Guam, and Okinawa.
On Guam, Bauer went ashore on the very first day.
He earned his first Bronze Star for demonstrating exceptional valor during intense, close-quarters jungle warfare.
He was wounded in the back by enemy shrapnel from an exploding shell. He refused to leave the battlefield.
It was his first Purple Heart.
Years later, pieces of shrapnel from that wound were still embedded in his back. His Yankees teammates would sometimes pick metal fragments out of him in the clubhouse.
The fighting he experienced on Okinawa was even more brutal.
Bauer was a platoon sergeant leading 64 Marines.
Only six of them survived the battle.
On April 15, 1945, under heavy mortar and machine-gun fire, he repeatedly exposed himself to evacuate wounded men.
When stretcher bearers were no longer available, he carried casualties himself to the aid station. For that action he earned a second Bronze Star.
He was also wounded in the thigh by an artillery shell, tearing a massive hole in his left thigh. He received his second Purple Heart.
As he was being carried off, he turned to a buddy and said, “There goes my baseball career.”
Throughout his time in the Pacific, Bauer also battled malaria, contracting it twenty-four separate times (that’s not a typo).
After the war he returned to baseball.
He made the Yankees in 1948 and became a key part of their dynasty, winning seven World Series titles as a player over 14 seasons.
He hit safely in a then record 17 straight World Series games.
He later managed the Yankees to the 1964 pennant and the Orioles to a World Series championship in 1966.
32 months of combat. 11 campaign ribbons. 2 Bronze Stars, 2 Purple Hearts. 8 World Series Championships.
Thank you, Hank! 🫡🇺🇸⚾
@Tony_BATtista On this remembrance of D-Day, GEN Patton once said: "I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs but by how high he bounces when he hits bottom".
The biggest mistake I made as a hitter...
I thought CONFIDENCE came from results.
So when I got a hit...
I felt confident.
When I went 0-for-4...
I didn't.
I remember times during my career where I'd get a couple hits and feel like I had everything figured out.
Then I'd go through a rough stretch and suddenly feel like I couldn't hit.
Nothing had really changed.
My confidence just moved up and down with the scoreboard.
Looking back, that was exhausting.
It was like I was riding a roller coaster.
Because baseball will humble you.
You'll hit balls hard and get nothing to show for it.
You'll make great swings and make outs.
You'll also get hits when you didn't deserve them.
That's when I realized something.
I was letting the scoreboard decide how I felt about myself.
And baseball doesn't work that way.
Some of my best at-bats ended in outs.
Some of my worst swings ended in hits.
That's why confidence can't come from results.
Results are too unpredictable.
Confidence has to come from something deeper.
It has to come from belief.
That's why I teach something called the B.E.A.R. Method.
B = Belief
Start with a statement.
"I am a great hitter."
"I compete every pitch."
"I drive the baseball hard."
E = Emotion
Don't think it.
Say it out loud.
With energy.
With conviction.
The goal is to change your state.
A = Action
When you believe it and feel it...
You start acting differently.
You compete differently.
You swing differently.
You carry yourself differently.
R = Results
The results usually follow.
Not because you wished them into existence.
Because your actions changed.
Now here's what I'd do tonight.
If you have videos of your best swings...
Create a highlight reel.
-Hard-hit balls.
-Line drives.
-Opposite-field hits.
-Long at-bats.
-Times you competed.
Watch it twice.
While you're watching it, nod your head and agree with what you're seeing.
"That's me."
"I compete."
"I hit the ball hard."
"I'm a tough out."
If you don't have a highlight reel yet...
Use the B.E.A.R. Method.
Say the statements out loud.
Every day.
Twice a day.
One thing I've learned:
Before the results show up on the field...
They usually show up in a player's thoughts, words, and actions first.
Thank you for reading,
Jermaine Curtis
P.S. - If you enjoyed it, and thought it was helpful, please share it.
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MLB is having a moment for the exact same reason that baseball scorebook makers are seeing sales double.
In our hyper-connected digital age, people are yearning for a bit of the phone-free, slowed down past. An afternoon at the park offers exactly that
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