As originally aired on The Rochester Press Box
Up until a couple of weeks ago you probably didn’t know who Orion Kerkering was. There isn’t all that much to know. He’s a 24-year-old pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies who goes by his middle name, Orion. Sort of a family thing. He, his father and grandfather were all named Richard, but chose not to use it. If you don’t like it, don’t share it. But that’s another story.
Kerkering came to our attention when he threw away a ball hit right back to him in the decisive and final play of the Phillies playoff series against the Dodgers. It was brutal. Just the second time a baseball playoff series has ended on an error. One of those high-profile moments he’ll never be able to distance himself from.
Not unlike Scott Norwood’s ‘wide right’ missed kick for the Buffalo Bills in the 1991 Super Bowl. Or Bill Buckner’s dramatic error in the 1986 World Series. Something else Kerkering shares with them? They all owned it. Stood up. Took the questions. Found the answers. However inadequate.
Back from the days of our High School Sports Beat program in 2013, there was a kid from Webster Schroeder who was put on the free throw line in the Section Five championship game against Bishop Kearney. It was a one and one. Make the first shot, you get a second. His team down one point with three seconds left. He missed the first free throw. Webster lost the game. His name was David Wantis. A senior then, he’d be thirty now. Immediately following the game, I asked if he was up to taking a question on camera. He was. Said he wasn’t nervous, he just missed the shot. Nothing particularly profound. But he took the question. Found an answer. Owned it. My closing line to the piece was, “Someone must have taught that kid well.”
Sports is a tough taskmaster. But among all its lessons, dealing with defeat is among the most significant. Wantis, Buckner, Norwood and now Kerkering. Along with all the people who chose support over ridicule in those moments. They get it.
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