Most communities have sons and daughters who’ve gone on to great success on the national scene.
The hope is that the success these talented people enjoy reflects well on the community. That’s not always the case. Often success inflates egos, waylays integrity and makes people lose track of their roots. Other times, blessedly, those who’ve gone big time manage to remain levelheaded and mindful of the community that helped nurture their success.
Former Highland baseball standout Adam Lind is proving himself to be in this second group.
Lind, 26 and in his first full year of Major League Baseball, is having a breakout season with the Toronto Blue Jays. Monday was his biggest day yet as a pro. He hit two home runs — including a grand slam — and drove in eight runs, helping the Blue Jays defeat the Texas Rangers. Lind’s eight RBIs were the most by an American League player in two years.
Lind’s big game is getting a lot of media coverage, but it wasn’t just one lucky night. He ranks among the league leaders this season in several statistical categories, including home runs, RBIs and batting average. Not since Carl Erskine pitched for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers in the 1950s has an Andersonian had this sort of success in professional baseball.
Adam Lind, as they say in baseball lexicon, can flat out hit. And the community can be proud that it has produced such an exceptional baseball player.
But Lind, like Erskine, is so much more than that as a representative of Anderson. He’s quiet, soft-spoken and appreciative. He remembers where he came from, as evidenced by his accessibility to the newspaper and its readers. And, above all, he’s hard-working and has a good attitude.
“He’s very, very, very coachable,” Blue Jays manager Cito Gaston said in a recent article on MLB.com. “Everybody’s not like that.”
The litany of spoiled professional athletes became tiresome long ago, as did the chest-beating of big-time stars. But you won’t see Lind loafing after a fly ball or dancing around the bases.
He treats baseball like a job — a job that he loves. And whether he strikes out or hits it out of the park, Anderson can be proud of that.
In Summary
Highland product Adam Lind, now playing baseball with the Toronto Blue Jays, is easy to root for.
Editorials
Editorial: Lind's success reflects well on his hometown
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