Markakis Musings

by johnnynebraska on Mar 6, 2007 1:36 PM EST

I woke up this morning with a strange thought in my head...do you think Nick Markakis realizes the unrestrained optimism and weight that we collectively put on his shoulders? Do you think he reads the posts where we deify him into the second coming of Moses playing right field and hitting .375?

I was never a good athlete because, well, I'm not athletic, but also because I could never rise above thinking too hard about what I was doing. I could have driven in the winning run in the bottom of the 6th inning in my Little League's tournament semi-final, but instead I thought about it too hard (and I sucked) and foul-tipped into the catcher's glove. Strike three. Game over. I run home crying.

I can't help thinking that if I were in Markakis' shoes, I'd be freaking out! Thinking about how the future of the franchise is in your hands, how the hopes and optimisms of thousands of loyal fans rest on whether or not you hit well and don't get injured.

But, I guess that's why he's Nick Markakis, professional athlete, and I'm johnnynebraska, dumb-ass blogger.

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I think he dealt with it last year

He had so much spotlight when he made the club out of ST. And he just didn't let it get through. Plus he was riding bench the first month of the season. Didn't let that affect him either.

And then on top of that, he went trhough a dry spell when pitchers figured him out. He just focused and worked through it.

You hear from the coaches that he's years beyond his age. I think he's demonstrated that. I bet he's heard a number of things about how he's expected to perform, and I bet he takes them with a grain of salt like everything else.