Athletes, Frankenstein and what it means to be a monster.

Literature (like all art) is a representation of the writers’ reality. By this definition a novel can take the form of any theme: Social Injustice, human psyche, or any single emotion the writer can be feeling at the time. This is the reason why I try to incorporate literature into my everyday life, and by extensions sports as well.  

Over the past two weeks baseball has seen the fall of Alex Rodriguez and Josh Hamilton. Episodes different from one another in various ways that converge on a central argument “what do we consider unforgivable?” And if something is unforgivable, does that make it a monster? In Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein we are confronted with a similar situation. One that I hope can shine light unto our overshadowed central argument.

Victor Frankenstein is mad (he is insane, I mean) and has lost his life to the pursuit of the creation of life. Frankenstein is successful and achieves his goal of creating life, but is unsatisfied with it. Ugly and eight feet tall he convinces himself that he has created a murderous monster. But is the creature Victor creates really a monster? The answer to this question is simple. No, he did not create a monster. In fact we are presented with heroic acts coming from the creation in various parts of the novel. Great feats of strength and courage, all for good. Yet the deprivation of love and understanding does lead to his eventual murdering of Elizabeth (name is in white lettering in order to conceal spoiler). Yes, he was ugly and wretched (or so Victor claims) but his only fault in life was being a victim of circumstance.

“There was none among the myriads of men that existed who would pity or assist me; and should I feel kindness towards my enemies? No: from that moment I declared everlasting war against the species, and, more than all, against him who had formed me, and sent me forth to this insupportable misery.” The monster – Frankenstein (Chapter 16)

There is perhaps no better citation to place things into perspective as the latter. One is born neither a monster nor a saint, but rather is shaped by their experiences. Josh Hamilton will serve me as an allusion for this. Hamilton is a drug addict that has been fighting his condition for the last ten years. Can we effectively call him a monster? If life led him to substance abuse, is he not like Frankenstein’s creation, who against his better judgment is somehow a victim of circumstance, even though he has great potential? I would argue that this is true, and that the Victor Frankenstein (the personal situation) that has created the drug-addict inside of him cannot be resolved by commands (sorry crazed twitter fans).

But what about A-Rod? Is he Frankenstein’s creature as well? And this is where it gets complicated. Alex Rodriguez cannot be defined by the creatures’ slowly decaying moral barrier. My reason being that the sports enhancing drugs Rodriguez was subject to are done out of deliberate planning in order to better his skills in baseball. As oppose to Hamilton who is forced by chemical imbalances in the brain to fall back into drug abuse. Alex Rodriguez embodies a young Victor Frankenstein (before the experiment) more than the creation. Being blinded by the need to succeed, willing to break any rule to become famous.

Neither one can be considered unforgivable or a monster. Yet the personal faults exhibited by Josh Hamilton seem to weight more on the conscious of the fans (in a negative manner) than Alex Rodriguez’ deliberate cheating. In order to truly consider Rodriguez as a monster we would first have to find his Frankenstein (a clear attempt to cheat himself that results in something he finds wretched or vile). This would be considered unforgivable, he would have created grief for both him and his teammates, fans and, managers all for personal gain. This would effectively make him a monster. But time will tell what is that he will become.

How Hamlet resonates in Baseball and in Cole Hamels

I’m sure you’ve all read Hamlet at least once in your life. Maybe it was in High School or in a literary course in college. You know all about Hamlet’s father issues and can quote at least one line from the play (most probably the famous six words “To be or not to be[…]), and as most of you know Hamlet is a deep play that can give us an insight into the life of those in pressure, and more specifically for the purposes of this blog those in sports.

Like Hamlet, most athletes are haunted by the fathering ghost of expectation, and are generally hated if they do not live up to their wish (this is one of the primordial reason Brian Wilson, A-Rod, anyone in the Cubs and some others are hated, they could not kill Claudius willingly).  In the micro essay by Simon Critchley & Jamieson Webster, The Gap Between Thought and Action, we are presented with a better definition for this Hamlet like phenomena:

‘For some, and it is popular view that goes back to the Goethe, Hamlet (or in this case the Athlete) is a man who simply cannot make up his mind: he waits, hesitates and is divided from himself in his “madness,” all the while dreaming of a redeeming, cataclysmic violence.’

What better example than Cole Hamels who excelled in 2014 with an ERA of 2.46 in 30 games, A total of 198 strikeouts, and a decent 56 Earned Runs allowed. Hamels is now being fought for in a bidding frenzy between various sport teams. In our crazed love for the soon to be ex-Phillies pitcher we have doomed him to expectations. A man between contracts, unable to decide between them. His only goal this season is to win, in a sense he is ‘divided in his “madness”‘. And his “madness” is clear, winning. His ‘redeeming, cataclysmic violence’ is nothing else than a glimpse into his nearby future, his intent and action clashing with one another. Leaving his team in eagerness, hoping that his move leads him to a winning team, whether it be the Red Sox or the Padres. The Violence is the act of leaving his team behind and beating them if he has to, achieving his crowning in the process.

But Hamels has yet to kill Claudius. The various clubs, his fans, and the professional sports news agencies have worked as Hamlet senior’s ghost. The praise and support slowly twisting into pressure to succeed. It is clear that Hamels’ Claudius is success, and it is up to him in the upcoming season to kill it, before it kills him in the final act. And in order to successfully kill success (pardon the redundancy), he must act. But acting in baseball isn’t just pitching or batting. Acting in baseball, and more specifically for Hamels is being worth the amount he is being payed. Hamels will be worth a whoping 24 million a year. And if we remember Hamels from 2009-2012 we would know that like every Athlete he has felt the pressure of having to out perform the rest, and has lacked the ability to do so.

My hopes for Hamels this season are that he picks a solid team. That he acquires good chemistry with them in the upcoming seasons, and achieves his dream of winning. That of course is easier said than done. And while he is ready for success, it should also be noted that others are not ready for it and will do everything in their power to stop him.

Photo taken from thirdbaseorbust

Brian Wilson (Baseballs Candide)

In Voltaire’s Candide we are confronted with the optimistic ideology of Prof. Pangloss. Often claiming that “All events are linked together in the best of possible worlds;” (in other words that everything is chained to the best of all possible outcomes) Believing this even when he witnesses and is a victim of various cruelties throughout the novel, leading the reader to wonder if Pangloss forces himself to believe in his Leibniz-esque philosophy. Like Candid, Brian Wilson, appears to follow Pangloss’ teachings across his career. From humble beginnings to disastrous fall, to his disappearance from the public eye.

If we believe this we might be able to argue that Brian Wilson’s (like Candide) life is nothing but a vertical line of multiple vicissitudes (Tommy John surgery twice), leading him slowly into the best possible outcome of his career. But Prof. Pangloss was also the man who said that we had noses in order to hold our glasses. And in this case I doubt we have arms because we were made to swing bats or throw baseballs.

Brian Wilson has suffered mostly from elbow injuries and lack of public self-control. Believing his career stats to be a constant thing when he has slowly lost his grip as one of the best Pitchers in MLB history.

In 2010 (Only 5 years ago) Wilson played 70 games, where his ERA was 1.81 (keeping in mind that a mediocre ERA is 4.00 and a very good ERA is 2.50 – 3.00). Falling behind in 2011 where he played a 3.11 and because of complications (Tommy John Surgery) had his worst season in 2012 with an ERA of 9.00. This, among other things, lead to the eventual trading of Wilson to the Dodgers where in 18 games he pitched an era of 0.66, rekindling hope for his relief pitching skills. This however was short lived, 2014 proved to be one of his worst seasons so far with an ERA of 4.66.

Brian Wilson was released on December 2014, free to roam far (far) away from the LA Dodgers. During the end of the novel Candide’s response to Prof. Pangloss’ idea of the best of all possible worlds was simple “That is very well put, said Candide, but we must go and work our garden.” This can be taken many ways. People often speculate that Voltaire was telling Pangloss to simply shut up, and that he was also telling Pangloss that to theorize and philosophy is great, but that it is more important to work “our garden”, or rather our own personal skills and attributes and/or strengths. This is what Brian Wilson has been doing during for the last few years in his MLB career. He has been through horrible injuries and troubles not because it is leading him to the best of possible outcomes but because relief pitching is a dangerous position to be in, often having to throw balls at ludicrous speeds to get the best of a batter.

Brian Wilson is not the best player out there (not by a long shot), but he is a wild card (personality aside). He is a man who has pitched aggressively and had an ERA of 1.81 to prove it. Given his trajectory I am surprised he has not been picked in early drafts, but I’m not really scared that he won’t either. There is no doubt in my mind that the next two years will be good for Brian Wilson if he does take better care of himself and does not find himself the victim of another elbow injury. He might be looked on as a naive, often misguided player by many but there’s skill and promise in the way he plays.

“Optimism,” said Cacambo, “What is that?” “Alas!” replied Candide, “It is the obstinacy of maintaining that everything is best when it is worst.”
― Voltaire, Candide