luck IS everywhere
'there are stories of coincidence and chance, and intersections and strange things told, and which is which and who only knows? and we generally say, "well, if that was in a movie, i wouldn't believe it." and it is in the not-quite-humble opinion of this narrator that strange things happen all the time. and so it goes, and so it goes. and the book says, "we may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with us."'
so now then. the other day a professional baseball player, one who plays for a pittance in a league below the major and minor levels, an independent league that is oldest such league still active today, on a team based just outside of st. louis but within the borders of illinois, the gateway grizzlies, a player named brandon thomas, came up to bat with the bases loaded and his team down three to naught. he proceeded to hit a grand slam to give his team the lead. in so doing he sent the ball out of the ballpark and into the adjacent parking lot where it crashed into the windshield of a truck, shattering it. his truck. the batsman's own truck. the odds of a player hitting the baseball into any vehicle in the parking lot...and then not merely any vehicle, but his very own? and on the windshield and not the roof? and then that this should occur not with merely any sort of home run, but with a grand slam -- an infrequent and significant enough occurrence to have garnered its own nickname? and not just any grand slam but one that provided precisely the number of runs necessary to turn a losing effort into a winning effort?
and i would have said that i thought this was just an attention-grabbing hoax, but in this day and age everything is filmed and so there was filmic evidence of the feat. and it was immediately covered by the major media outlets, including an interview of brandon by espn which featured a clip of the grand slam.
and as i watched the clip and followed the ball as it flew over the left field wall and fence, i saw that the entire left field wall was emblazoned with an advertisement for the illinois lottery, the very one you see in the photo above. the ball vaulted this ad and not the one for pepsi in centerfield or whatever could be found on the right field wall. luck is everywhere. what luck! and then, possibly of even more significance to me, directly above the wall could be seen another sign. it was unclear whether the sign was attached to the fence or affixed to some structure outside the ballpark, but no matter. the sign implored: make the smart move.
it's good advice, marty.