You are probably aware that yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, the commemoration of the Mexican victory over French troops at the Battle of Puebla. You may not have realized that the fifth of May is also the birthday of two denizens of the Philosophy Hall of Fame: Soren Kierkegaard, born May 5, 1813, and Karl Marx, born May 5, 1818. The two men had little in common in this life or in the works they left behind, but it turns out they are both great baseball fans in the afterlife.

And so it was that, instead of walking the streets of Copenhagen or brooding in the British Library as they did in this life, they decided to celebrate their birthday by attending the Braves tilt against the Orioles on Friday night. Why this game, you ask? Well, Soren is a big fan of the late Earl Weaver. He considers Weaver the most acute philosopher among baseball managers.  This is in part, their shared affinity for the walk. As Soren says, “Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Everyday, I walk myself into a state of well-being & walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it.…Thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.”  Weaver understood better than any manager the importance of walking. 

Soren and Weaver also had in common a disdain for the friendship of their contemporaries.  As Soren said: “People understand me so poorly that they don’t even understand my complaint about them not understanding me.”  Earl agreed: “A manager should stay as far away as possible from his players. I don’t know if I said ten words to Frank Robinson while he played for me.” 

But Soren is also a big fan of the current Atlanta Braves, especially their manager Brian Snitker.  As Soren likes to say: “The most common form of despair is not being who you are.”  Snit, above all big league skippers, is authentic; he knows who he is and is comfortable in his skin.  It might seem strange that Soren would admire two managers who could not be more different from each other.  But remember, one of his most famous books was “Either/Or” and paradox was at the heart of his philosophy.  Truth is, Soren, like Earl, was no stranger to despair; he wrote an entire book on the subject, “The Sickness Unto Death.”  But I like to believe that he admires Snit precisely because of his equanimity in the face of uncertainties—qualities he cultivated during his long years on those minor league buses.

Karl came along because he had nothing better to do on his birthday.  He doesn’t have many friends in the afterlife. Karl is not a fan of any particular team. He doesn’t understand why the players compete against each other on the field, when their common enemy is the Owners. As he was heard to mutter during the game: “Players unite; you have nothing to lose but your chains.”

Turns out the game they attended was not especially inspiring or memorable.  The O’s defeated the Braves 9-4.  We all thought the Braves had the advantage going into the game, with Max Fried on the mound.  Varsity sported an ERA below 0.50 coming in and had not surrendered a run in his previous 18 innings.  Baltimore’s starter was Dean Kremer, who had an ERA over 6.  As Karl said to Soren as they entered the park, “A Braves victory is a historical inevitability.”  But Soren countered: Oh, Karl, have you learned nothing in your two hundred years? “It is life’s unlimited possibilities and uncertainties that give it meaning. If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never.”

And that is precisely why I am a baseball fan!  You never know how it will turn out.  And if it doesn’t turn out well, remember the words of the philosopher Earl: “This ain’t football; we play every day.”

 Max actually pitched pretty well. His line in the box score looks ugly: 6 IP, 7 runs (5 earned), on 8 hits and 2 walks. As Soren reminded Karl: “If anyone on the verge of action should judge himself according to the outcome, he would never begin.”  The outcome doesn’t tell the whole story.  Fried surrendered a couple of home runs, but much of the damage was due to a couple of uncharacteristic throwing errors by Max himself.  And half of his runs came home after he left the game, due to a grand slam surrendered by Joe Jimenez in the 7th.  By the time Jimenez got out of the 7th, it was 9-1 Orioles.

To my eyes (and to Soren’s), Max is fine.  Jimenez, on the other hand, evokes in me another Soren book, “Fear and Trembling.”  Kierkegaard and I both think Alex Anthopolous is the best GM in the game, but the trade for Joe makes us doubt his wisdom in that case.

What of the Braves’ offense against Kremer?  They had multiple runners on in 5 of 6 innings against Kremer, and many hard hit balls.  But they only had one run to show for it, thanks to a run scoring single by Murphy in the first.  Speaking of Murph, he clubbed a three run homer in the 8th, but it was too little too late.  Murphy reminds me that we must give Anthopoulos credit.  Many of us wondered whether he had given up too much to acquire the A’s catcher, but so far Murphy is leading all of baseball in OPS.  In AA we trust!  Alex understands well Soren’s maxims: “Face the facts of being what you are, for that is what changes what you are” and “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true.”  Anthopoulos has a strong sense of what the Braves are and of what they can be.

I was glad I got a chance to catch up with my old buddy Soren (and Karl—he seems to have mellowed in the last few years).  Kierkegaard always gives me valuable perspective.  I tend to focus on the past, on history, on what what got us to this point.  But Soren rightly insists: “It is perfectly true, as philosophers say, that life must be understood backwards. But they forget the other proposition, that it must be lived forwards.” 

Moreover, Soren reminds us all that: “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” And: “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. Not to dare is to lose oneself.” And: “To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one’s self…. And to venture in the highest is precisely to be conscious of one’s self.”

So the Braves dare to venture forth once again this evening, behind Spencer Strider against another O’s pitcher with an ERA over 6. (With this rotation, how is Baltimore sporting the second best record in baseball?)  I like our chances, but like Soren and unlike Karl I know that nothing is inevitable.  Still, Soren reminds us all that “Faith is the highest passion in a human.”  We all turn to this and every new game, knowing that anything good or bad can happen, but with faith that the venture will be worth it.