Monday May 28th, 2012

Robert Whitmer:  Pumas are a sleek and agile animal.  It will eat any animal it can catch.  It has no preference.  It must, however, consume red meat to survive.  There is no type of vegetables or greens for this beast.  It is the opposite of everything your mother told you to do.  Instead of chasing down its prey with speed and sprinting, it prefers to stalk its prey and stare it down.  Then, when the prey thinks that it is safe, the puma pounces and digs the ten claws at its possession into the haunches of the animal.  With one mighty snap of his jaws he breaks the neck while knocking it to the ground.  From this precisely calculated strike, the puma will feast for a week before it must start again; seeking another prey out and repeat the process with centuries of genetics telling him exactly how to execute his game plan. Such is the same with Lance “Big Puma” Berkman.  He honed his craft at Canyon High school in New Braunfels, TX (30 miles down the road from me).  He then took his talents to Rice University.  Then, after being taken with the 16^th pick in the 1997 MLB draft, he began his journey to the show. 

            It had to be 2004 when I was sitting in Bank One Ballpark in downtown Phoenix, AZ.  The Diamondback were playing the Astros.  Lance Berkman was in town.  I had heard of him; seen him play on television, but never in person.  I was lucky enough to have decent enough seats (it was an empty game and I knew the seating attendant from frequenting the stadium so we got better than what we paid for) to be pretty close to the plate when Berkman stepped in.  After his first at-bat, and researching pumas for this article, I realize where he got his nickname.  Stepping into the box, he didn’t break his eye contact with the pitcher even when he was spinning himself around and trying to psych himself up to pitch to the Astros best hitter. As Berkman got set and the pitcher was getting the signs, that stare never broke.  The pitcher, content with his sign, hurled the ball toward the plate, the puma pounced on his prey.  His feet turned, his hips twisted and his claws gripping his bat, swung it around and smashed it into the ball. His prey traveled 400+ feet and hit off the Fridays Restaurant windows above the left field bleachers.  The man is an animal.  Read the rest of this entry →