I watched the Yankee game last night, a brilliant pitching performance by Taiwan’s pride, Chien-Ming Wang, in an 8-2 victory over the Mets.  I have blogged about Wang before, noting his Confucian filiality, but last night something else was crystal clear: his Taoist manner.

     It was most notable in his walk off the field after every inning.  Regardless of what had just transpired, and most of it was very good from a pitching perspective (a personal best of 10 strikes outs), he very slowly and very evenly sauntered to the sideline.  He did not betray the least bit of excitement.  He was neither exuberant over his achievements, nor dejected by his failures.  His eyes were calm, his body relaxed.  He just came and went in the moment.  A passage from the Chuang Tzu came to mind:

Joy and anger, sorrow and delight, hope and regret, doubt and ardor, diffidence and abandon, candor and reserve: it’s all music rising out of emptiness, mushrooms appearing out of mist.  Day and night come and go, but who knows where it all begins?  It is!  It just is!  If you understand this day in and day out, you inhabit the very source of it all.  (19)

     Our emotional responses to the events swirling around us are irrelevant.  How we feel will not change how Way is unfolding.  We cannot invest ourselves in our expectations or reactions; we can just accept what is there before us.  It is!  It just is!

     For a major league pitcher this means that, once the ball is out of your hand, it is out of your control.  A good hitter might hit even your most precise pitch.  Best, then, to let go completely of the pitch: let go physically and emotionally.  If it is hit out for a home run, no need to get upset.  That is already past, another pitch is imminent (unless the manager is trotting up the steps of the dugout!).  If the pitch fools the batter utterly (at one point last night the extraordinary Mets short stop, Jose Reyes, literally twirled to his knees as he flailed after an unhittable pitch from Wang), there is no cause for celebration.  Way could shift against you at the very next chance.

      Last night, Wang exuded an inherent understanding of Taoist disengagement.  He inhabited the very source of it all.  Perhaps Mussina will be able to do the same in Colorado on Tuesday….