What will they remember?

My friend and I were joking the other day there about how we might be remembered after we have parted this earthly realm.

I would love to be remembered as he who gave some of his life sharing with others the things I thought important and worthy of learning, both as a minister of religion and as a teacher.

Maybe some might be remembered me as an artist who made a good attempt at producing artwork. Possibly and hopefully as a good father, and as a loving caring husband.

Then we got into the ridiculous. My friend thought that I might be remembered as the idiot who ran a half marathon on a broken ankle. Or maybe I would be remembered as the teacher who sent a student across to the technical department to borrow a small set of pliers with which I removed a tooth that was giving me a great deal of discomfort with a toothache.

Thinking of those latter two things I can see just how silly they both were but at the time it seemed like the correct thing to do.

I did not know my ankle was broked and friends and family had all given up a precious weekend to run this half marathon. I did not wish to let them down. It was nearing examination time for my students and the lessons I was teaching might just be the ones that helped the students achieve a good or better grade. I did not wish to miss a lecture. 

We laughed and I shared the following account with my friend. Neither he nor I know anything very much about baseball but the tale seemed appropriate.

 The tale is about a man called Steve Lyons. He will be remembered as the player who dropped his trousers in the field of play. 

He could be remembered as an outstanding infielder, as the player who played every position for the Chicago White Sox,  as the man who always dived into first base, as a favourite of the fans who high fived the man who caught the foul ball in the bleachers (whatever they are?). He could be remembered as an above-average player who made it with an average ability. 

But he will not. He will be remembered as the player who dropped his trousers on July 16, 1990.

The White Sox were playing the Tigers in Detroit. Lyons hurtled and raced down the first-base line. He knew it was going to be tight, so he dived at the bag. Safe! 

The Tiger's pitcher disagreed. He and the umpire got into a shouting match, and Lyons stepped in to voice his opinion.

Absorbed in the game and the debate, Lyons felt dirt trickling down the inside of his pants. Without missing a beat he dropped his trousers, wiped away the dirt, and twenty thousand jaws hit the bleachers' floor. 

And, as you can imagine, the jokes began. Women behind the White Sox dugout waved dollar bills when he came onto the field. "No one," wrote one columnist, "had ever dropped his trousers on the field. Not Wally Moon. Not Blue Moon Odom. Not even Heinie Manush." 

Within twenty-four hours of the "exposure," he received more exposure than he had got in his entire career, seven live television and approximately twenty radio interviews. 

"We've got this pitcher, Melido Perez, who earlier this month pitched a no-hitter," Lyons stated, "and I'll guarantee you he didn't do two live television shows afterwards. I pull my trousers down, and I do seven. Something pretty skewed  in this game." 

Fortunately, for Steve, he was wearing long underpants under his baseball pants. Otherwise the game would be rated "R" instead of "PG-13." 

Now, I don't know Steve Lyons. I'm not a White Sox fan or any kind of football fan for that matter. Neither am I normally appreciative of men who drop their trousers in public. But I think Steve Lyons deserves a salute. 

I think anybody who dives into first base deserves a salute. How many men do you see roaring down the baseline of life more concerned about getting a job done than they are about saving their necks?

How often do you see people diving headfirst into anything? 

Too seldom, right? But when we do, when we see a gutsy human throwing caution to the wind and taking a few risks,  we know that is a person worthy of a pat on the back. 

So here's to all the Steve Lyons in the world. To all those who go the extra mile, who give their very best at every opportunity. I think it silly to say give 110% but let me just say those who for others give more than is asked. I would love to be remembered as somebody like that.

Have a great day.