Walking With Giants in Your Law Life

As the Carolina landscape turns red and gold and November arrives with a nip, I bring you news from the Fall Classic to brighten your Law Life: 

There is greatness all around, and giants walk among us.

For proof, look no further than Major League Baseball’s champion Texas Rangers, winners of the 2023 World Series. 

The Rangers – especially slugger Adolis Garcia, manager Bruce Bochy and shortstop Corey Seager (North Carolina’s own) – did things few if any have ever done before. That is the definition of greatness. Yet their destiny was not ordained. They suffered disappointments and setbacks along the way.

But all three persisted. They stayed in the game. They worked hard. And for their efforts, they have been inducted into the Candy LaChance* Hall of Immortals. 

You can join them! Here’s how:

Walking with Giants Tip #1: Maintain your focus.

A mere six years ago, Garcia was in the process of defecting from Cuba to play in America, where he was rejected repeatedly by MLB teams before eventually finding stardom at age 30 –when the average big-leaguer has already retired. He says he never wavered from his goal and never doubted he would make it. 

Your Law Life: What are your goals for 2024 and beyond? Personally and professionally? What steps can you take today to move closer to those goals?

Walking with Giants Tip #2: Turn lemons into lemonade, then serve it to friends.

After a record-setting run in the playoffs, Garcia suffered a devastating injury that knocked him out of the lineup for the rest of the Series. Instead of whining about his misfortune, Garcia called a team meeting and gave his teammates a pep talk. “This is what it’s all about,” said a gleeful Garcia as he and his colleagues danced and celebrated in the clubhouse after the final game.

Thought for Your Law Life: Make a list of things that bring you joy. Surround yourself with people and objects that bring out your best.

Walking with Giants Tip #3: You’re never too old.

As the season began, Texas was a ballclub loaded with potential but lacking leadership. Enter the 68-year-old Bochy, who won three championships with the San Francisco Giants back in the 2000s before retiring – only to be lured from the La-Z-Boy by the Rangers. “I’m just happy to be along for the ride,” said Bochy with characteristic modesty after winning his fourth World Series ring, which places him in the elite company of legendary managers like Stengel and Mack and Torre.

Thought for Your Law Life: Keep doing what you love as long as you can. Then do something else you love.

Walking with Giants Tip #4: Don’t overthink it.

“He mostly sits there and watches like my grandpa in a lawn chair at a Little League game,” was how one Rangers pitcher described his manager. For his part, Bochy says: “The hardest thing I do each game is fill out the lineup card.”

Thought for Your Law Life: On a typical day, do you bring chaos or a calming influence to your workplace? Your home?

Walking with Giants Tip #5: Finish strong.

Throughout the long 162-game season, the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers and Baltimore Orioles were the dominant teams, each winning more than 100 games, and clinched their playoff spots early. Arizona won only 84 and barely eked out a wild-card spot. And yet it was the Diamondbacks who got hot in the playoffs and almost won it all, while the Big Three watched from home.

Thought for Your Law Life: How do you feel at the end of a typical workday? Energized, exhausted, soaring, stressed? What is one thing you can do today to nurture your inner Corbin Carroll?

Law Life Lucky Number: 99 (number of days until pitchers and catchers report to spring training – February 14).

10 Good Baseball Songs: (1) Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Norworth and Von Tilzer (2) Talkin’ Baseball, Terry Cashman (3) Dock Ellis’ No-No, Chuck Brodsky (4) Centerfield, John Fogerty (5) Glory Days, Bruce Springsteen (6) Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio, Les Brown (7) Thank God I’m a Country Boy, John Denver (8) Sweet Caroline, Neil Diamond (9) Paradise by the Dashboard Light, Jim Steinman and Meatloaf (10) We Are the Champions, Queen.

* Candy LaChance played 1B for the Boston Americans in the first World Series in 1903.

Jay Reeves practiced law for nearly 40 years in North and South Carolina. He has loved baseball even longer than that. He lives in Newberry, SC, halfway between Prosperity and Waterloo and is author of The Most Powerful Attorney in the World. Contact jay@yourlawlife.com.