A lesson on patience (the kshanti paramita)

I left work early yesterday in order to get home by 5:00 p.m. to watch the first pitch of Game 5 between the Yankees and the Red Sox. However, I knew I wasn't going to get to see all of the game because I had to open the zendo, just like the Monday before and just like the Monday before that, etc (rhythm). Whatever happens during the game will happen, I reasoned, whether I watch it or not, so I settled down to watch the first several innings of the game.

The Red Sox jumped to an early, first-inning 2-0 lead, but the Yankees scored one run in the top of the second, reminding New England that they can score again at any time, and tie the game up (or worse). The game continued for a few more scoreless innings.

At about 6:45, I left the house and arrived at the Zen Center at 7:00. I tried to listen to the game on the radio on the way over, but could only find it on one very distant AM station. I could barely make out what the announcer was saying over all the static, but that was still better than nothing. Since the Zen Center doesn't open until 7:30, I was hoping that I could sit in the parking lot for a little while longer and listen to another inning or two before I went in, but when I arrived there was already one person waiting to enter - and I was the only one with the keys.

Whatever happens during the game will happen, I reasoned, whether I listen or not, so I turned off the radio with the score still 2-1 and unlocked the Center's door, and settled down for the evening service.

So I missed the game from 7:00-7:30 as I prepared for the evening service, and from 7:30-8:30 for the service itself, and from 8:30-9:00 for the post-service dharma discussion. No problem. By 9:00, four hours had passed since the game began and it was surely over by then, I reasoned, so whatever happened had already happened. But as I drove from the Center to the unfortunately named Thai Coon restaurant for post-service dinner with a few friends, I turned the radio on AND THE GAME WAS IN EXTRA INNINGS!

As best as I could determine over the poor reception on the radio, the Yankees came back and tied the game up (actually, as I later learned, they actually took a 4-2 lead in the sixth inning, and Boston came back and tied it up in the eighth). I could not determine what inning they were in, but as I listened, Bronson Arroyo got back-to-back strike outs on A-Rod and then Sheffield (the box score later informed me that it was the 10th inning).

I was in a dilemma. Should I go in and join my friends for dinner and miss the rest of the game? Should I stay here in the parking lot and keep listening? Should I high-tail it on home and watch as much of the game as I could still catch? It was already about 9:15, and I wasn't sure how much longer the game would go on (remember, it started at 5:00) so I figured that whatever happens during the game will happen, whether I watch it or not, so I turned off the car and joined Arthur and K. for dinner.

We got out at 10:30, and on the way home, the radio was now covering the Cardinals-Astros National League playoff game. "Ah, the game must be over," I thought. I listened carefully all the way home to hear if they mentioned the final Red Sox-Yankees score, but heard nothing. At home, I turned on the television to catch the score on ESPN, but as the channel I had been watching hours earlier came on, I saw, to my amazement, that THE GAME WAS STILL ON!

It was now the 14th inning. Game tied 4-4. Officially the longest game in American League Championship Series history already. Johnny Damon was up with one out and no one on. He walks. One on, one out. Next, Cabrera strikes out. One on, two outs. Ramirez walks. Two on, two outs. David Ortiz due up next.

Ortiz can lay claim to being the most clutch performer in Red Sox history. He had homered at 1:22 of the morning of that same day to win Game 4. Now, 23 hours later, he has the chance to do it again, and he works the count to 2-and-2, then starts fouling off pitches. On the 10th pitch, Ortiz dumps a single into center and the ball drops to the field! Jeter doesn't even bother to throw the ball to the plate, Damon runs home from second, and the Red Sox win, 5-4, to bring the Series to 3 and 2. Game 6 Tuesday!

Now the lesson in all this is 1.) don't ever count the Red Sox out, but also, 2.) be patient. As disappointed as I was to have not seen much of the game, what did I actually miss? Nine innings of scoreless baseball? No big deal. A three-run Yankee inning? I wouldn't have wanted to see that anyway. A two-run Red Sox comeback in the 8th - that's all I really missed. And if I had to choose between that and seeing Ortiz' 14th inning heroics, I'd take the 14th every time.

So, I had managed to pull myself away from the game and drive to the Zen Center, open up and greet early guests, go through the entire service and post-service discussion, have dinner with two friends, and drive home, all without missing any of the essential drama, the hit that people will be talking about for years.

Patience pays.