Domonic Brown Doing Horrible Job of Curbing People’s Ridiculous Expectations

When a guy takes off like Dom Brown has, it’s easy to lose perspective.

Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Look, I know we’re all pretty smart, here on the internet.  Like you, guy leaving a racist comment about Obama on an article about Springtime Festivals for the Whole Family.  You seem like you’re pretty on the ball.  Obama’s trying to slip his liberal, commie mandates by all us Americans with some slick talking points about medicare and the next thing you know a guy’s marrying a horse – but he’s not getting any of that past you.

No sir.

But here in the sports section of the internet, people will loosen their grip on reality even further, citing things that aren’t real as reasons a guy should be paid trillions of dollars.  Or, in some cases, they’ll take all of their dashed hopes and mash them together into one grotesque, Frankenstein-hope and use that to get them through an entire baseball season.

Domonic Brown is having a tremendous spring, and has to have earned a starting spot in the outfield by now.  It’s wonderful to see, as someone whose watched him develop and then stall, and as someone who wants the Phillies to win baseball games this year.

But every once and again, we let ourselves go, and the next thing you know, you realize Dom Brown is the only reason you’re getting out of bed in the morning.  We need to be realistic, which is something we can do with abandoning all hope, but it is necessary to maintain some form of objective–

“In my mind I don’t feel like a pitcher can have enough stuff to get me out.  Even if they’re throwing 100 mph, I feel I can turn it around.”—Domonic Brown, CSN Philly

…

First of all, to hear the athlete in question pretty much confirm the ludicrous scenario we’ve created in our heads is far from discouraging.

Secondly, we’ve known that raw talent lives inside Dom Brown – it breeds there, festering in his stomach and waiting to sprout little talent hatchlings to what has this sentence even become honestly.  My point is, the talent was there; he was a top five prospect in all of baseball, so waiting on the bench to either strike out or receive a phone call to get back on the bus to Lehigh is probably not his ceiling.

His issues were cerebral, to the point where one night he couldn’t even remember how to catch a fly ball.

But now his confidence is through the roof, and that quote, according to Jim Salisbury, was not even stated with an air of arrogance (one that would be completely undeserved after the past few years).  Just explained as a fact.  He sees the ball, wants to hit it, and does; repeatedly.  It has apparently become that clear to young Dom.

So maybe we can afford to lose a little perspective.