THE GOAT

San Francisco didn't make the baseball playoffs. They didn't finish last but not in the money, so to speak. I love baseball for its strategy. Some say it's boring. I've never been bored seeing managers maneuver. 

Overall, not much of a sports type but baseball, as Susan Sarandon quoted in my favorite baseball movie, "Bull Durham," 'Walt Whitman said, Baseball is America's game.' " 

Moping around, bemoaning the loss, I thought of a Lieutenant I knew in Nam. He was a West Point graduate and told me this tale. At "The Point" when the cadets get close to graduation, cadets who finish first or close to the top, their hard work has paid off and there's much of which to be proud. However, at this stage, nearing graduation, the real prize goes to the one who finishes "last." He is called "the goat." 

According to the Lieutenant who said he was more proud of being "the goat" than anything ever, when you get close to the end, you know how many points you need to pass a test, how much to fail one. There are scores who are vying to be the cadet "goat." When "the goat" walks across the stage at graduation, he is given a standing ovation. 

Well , my beloved Giants didn't win but they weren't the "goat" either. A sad note to this war story that I remember distinctly: the Lieutenant was killed shortly after telling me the "goat" story. Sad beyond words. We spent a million dollars educating this fine young troop to have him die in a useless war. It is not the money, it is just an example. The Lieutenant will never be married, have children, love the good American life. We sent him off to war and he died. The greater sadness is the anger at what we did. We have done it many times since Vietnam and continue. We f..king never learn.