[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 185 (Tuesday, November 19, 2019)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6662-S6663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            THE MIDDLE EAST

  Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, the Washington Nationals' upset victory 
in the 2019 World Series reminded a good friend of mine, Rabbi Michael 
Cohen of Manchester, VT, of another unforeseen win. Fifty years ago, 
the New York Mets, led by star pitcher Tom Seaver, and manager--former 
Brooklyn Dodgers star Gil Hodges--shocked the baseball world by 
defeating the heavily favored Baltimore Orioles in the fall classic.
  Rabbi Cohen, who has led an exemplary life, taking action on major 
issues including Mideast peace, antisemitism, and other difficult 
challenges, sees a common theme in these two victories, 50 years apart. 
Life, as in sports, offers all of us the opportunity to achieve what at 
the outset seems insurmountable. Peace in the Middle East is possible. 
We can end the scourges of antisemitism, xenophobia, and racism.
  Rabbi Cohen's words in an article published in the Jerusalem Post on 
October 28, 2019, ``Letter from America: The `69 Mets and lessons for 
today'' are a powerful reminder of what we humans can achieve against 
the odds.
  I ask unanimous consent that Rabbi Cohen's writing be printed in the 
Congressional Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

                          [The Jerusalem Post]

                (By Michael M. Cohen, October 28, 2019)

        Letter from America: The '69 Mets and lessons for today

       The articles we read in The Jerusalem Post and other news 
     sources can be daunting, leaving us with a feeling of 
     hopelessness and a debilitating sense that the conditions of 
     the world are only getting worse.
       From the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, which 
     seems intractable, to climate change, to endless strife in 
     the Middle East, to an assault on the institutions of, and 
     belief in, democracy, to the worldwide rise of antisemitism, 
     xenophobia and racism, to name but a few, the odds appear 
     against us.
       Fifty years ago the New York Mets began the baseball season 
     with 100 to 1 odds against the scenario they would win the 
     World Series. Before the 1969 season they had won a total of 
     394 games and lost a staggering 737 games since they first 
     started playing in 1962. A sense of gloom pervaded the team. 
     But in 1969 they would win 100 games, and this year's World 
     Series marks the 50th anniversary of the final out in game 
     five against the favorite and imposing Baltimore Orioles led 
     by Frank Robinson and Boog Powell.
       Baseball and other sports are not only about wins and 
     losses and statistics. On a deeper level, sports are a 
     metaphor for life and a holder of lessons for life. The '69 
     Mets are no different for us today.
       The 1969 Season did not begin with a stellar start for the 
     Mets. By the end of May they were continuing to lose more 
     than win, with a record of 18-23.
       I attended my first major league baseball game on June 19, 
     when the Mets beat the Phillies in Philadelphia at the old 
     Connie Mack Stadium, 6-5. Member of the tribe Art Shamsky 
     went four for four, including two home runs, and pitcher Tom 
     Seaver stole second base!
       Three weeks later Seaver would pitch two outs short of a 
     perfect game against the Chicago Cubs, as the Mets moved 
     within 3 games of the division-leading Cubs.
       Change seemed at hand, but change is rarely perfectly 
     linear. By mid-August the Mets had fallen 10 games behind the 
     Cubs. But then the Mets took all the accumulated and 
     invaluable lessons from the losses of those previous seasons 
     and applied them to win an incredible 38 of their last 49 
     games, and win the Eastern Division of the National League.
       That is the thing about baseball. A good batting average is 
     .300, which means that 70% of the time a good player fails 
     when he is at bat. Players will tell you they take all the 
     lessons from their previous at bats every time they are in 
     the batter's box, with most of those lessons coming from 
     failed experiences.
       In addition, baseball is the only sport where the team on 
     offense, the team at bat, does not have the ball. Rather, the 
     team on defense pitches to you. That dynamic makes the 
     encounter more difficult, but batters know those are the 
     conditions they operate within.
       The Mets would go on to sweep baseball legend Hank Aaron 
     and the Atlanta Braves in the National League playoff series 
     and then face the Baltimore Orioles in the World Series. They 
     would win the Series by tenacity, hustle, a strong work 
     ethic, smart baseball, and that factor out of our hands, 
     serendipity.
       On the second pitch of the first game of the World Series, 
     Don Buford hit a home run off Seaver, and the Orioles would 
     go on to win

[[Page S6663]]

     the game. After that game many felt that an Orioles sweep of 
     the Mets was a very good possibility. The tenacious Mets had 
     other ideas, and went on to win the next four games in a row 
     to become the champions.
       In game two, their oldest member, Ed Charles, 38, came 
     through, batting, and helped end the game with a difficult 
     and brilliant throw to Donn Clendenon at first base.
       Game three was all about two magnificent running catches by 
     center fielder Tommie Agee. The first, with two runners on 
     base, was caught in the webbing of his glove, the white of 
     the baseball protruding from the glove, while the second 
     diving catch was made with the bases loaded.
       Game four the Mets won because the correct call was not 
     made. J.C. Martin bunted in the bottom of the 10th inning and 
     ran to first base on the wrong side of the first base line. 
     Because of that, Oriole pitcher Pete Richert's throw hit 
     Martin's wrist and the ball rolled to the ground, allowing 
     Rod Gasper to score the winning run. Martin should have been 
     called out, but he was not.
       The final game was won by the Mets because of smart, 
     creative and detailed thinking by Mets manager Gil Hodges. In 
     the bottom of the sixth inning, with the Mets trailing 3-0, 
     Dave McNally's pitch to Cleon Jones went low and ended up in 
     the Mets dugout. Umpire Lou DiMuro ruled the ball had not hit 
     Jones. Hodges then emerged with the baseball showing a smudge 
     of shoe polish on it. Jones was then awarded first base, and 
     the next batter, Donn Clendenon, would hit a two-run homer, 
     and the Mets would go on to win the game, 5-3.
       The challenges we face can feel disheartening. We may feel 
     like the Mets before the '69 season began, when the past 
     suggested 100 to 1 odds against a different and better 
     outcome. But change did happen. Fifty years later, that 
     uplifting lesson should not be lost on us.
       We are also reminded of that lesson in the Bible, where 
     Moses's last speech to the people is a poem. We see in the 
     life of Moses--who 40 years earlier said to God, ``I have 
     never been a man of words . . . I am slow of speech and slow 
     of tongue'' (Exodus 4:10)--someone who develops from a poor 
     orator to a master of prose and poetry.
       That which appears to be insurmountable may be difficult to 
     overcome, but as Babe Ruth said, ``Never let the fear of 
     striking out keep you from playing the game.'' The batter's 
     box awaits.
       The writer, rabbi emeritus of the Israel Congregation in 
     Manchester Center, Vermont, teaches at Bennington College and 
     the Kibbutz Ketura campus of the Arava Institute for 
     Environmental Studies.

                          ____________________