[justified_image_grid]
The Gefle Flaming Goats.
I spoke with my family about the opportunity and told them what I was planning to do. Lupita and the kids were all good with it and told me to enjoy the thrills but don’t forget the bills. We all laughed but I was still quite nervous as I left my home, kids and dog but I knew the baseball gods needed me to go back to Sweden and get away from the backside of the criminal justice system and work on the preventative, positive side of the system. The Flaming Goats had a poetic name as I had always wanted to help end the curse of billy and da goat for the Cubs.
I was blessed to get the opportunity to spend another baseball summer in Sweden and joined a team of individuals with a cult like passion for the game. One needs a cult like passion for the game in Sweden as the climate is better suited for Hockey and the Chicago Blackhawks thank the hockey gods for that as a dozen or more Swedish players have helped the Chicago Blackhawks win a couple championships and Lord Stanley’s Cups. The early season one must sometimes dress for the weather when you play baseball in Gavle but the Flaming Goats make that sacrifice. The Flaming Goats are rewarded each summer as the months of May, June, July and August the weather is perfect for baseball and during midsummer it is baseball heaven for an old Cub fan that grew up on day baseball.
The Flaming Goats of Gefle or Gavle get their nickname from the city’s notoriety for its 13 meter high and 3.6 tone straw “Gavelbocken” or Christmas Goat. Each year the city builds a magnificent straw goat and festively decorates the Goat. The Goat is a social creature that updates its life on Twitter, Instragram and Blogspot in both English and Swedish. The problem is the Goat goes down in Flames most seasons.
I had always wanted to return to Sweden and this really seemed like a dream as I boarded the plane to join a team called the Gefle Flaming Goats. Somehow, I “knew it” this was related to the vow I made to the moon and stars in the fall of 1969 to end the “curse of the billy and da goat.” I landed in Stockholm and was met at the airport by the guitar playing general manager and Gefle baseball hall of fame player Mattias Jansson. The ride from the Stockholm airport to Gefle was awesome as we talked baseball and I told him I was on a quest to end the curse of Billy and his goat Murphy for the Chicago Cubs. Mattias had heard of the story and I told him some more interesting statistical occurrences that prove the existence of the baseball gods and their curse on the Cubs and he vowed to maybe sing a song about it and help me any way he and the team could.
Mattias was one of the original members of the Gefle Flaming Goats formed in 1983. They were going thru a bit of a transition now as the team was getting older. He explained that baseball participation had been on the decline in the past decade as Hockey was becoming more year round for many of the top athletes and Baseball is no longer an Olympic sport so along with all the new technological toys competing for kids time, baseball participation has been steadily declining the past decade.
The Eliteserien team was aging and the past few years the Goats have been bringing over two American players but they concentrated more on playing then coaching and with the two players each of the past three years the team has still not learned to win consistently and has never brought a championship home to Gefle. Mattias felt this season they would prefer a coach who would only play in emergencies as they feel they wanted to develop their talent and thought they could compete with the right coaching. This season the Goats would have four players with good skills that attend the baseball academy in Leksand. The four kids will not practice with the Goats but will practice at the academy where they have batting cages, coaches and will focus on baseball every day. They will play for the Goats on the weekend Eliterserien games and once school is out they would practice with the team.
The miles flew by as from the first conversation I knew Mattias was a man who gives his heart and soul to the game and has been part of so many golden memories on the baseball diamonds across Sweden. The first weekend was a wonderful experience as we had a baseball jamboree in Gefle as junior and Eliteserien players from Gefle, Ratvik and Sundsvall gathered to play some inter-squad games and. The Gefle Flaming Goats Eliteserien team would draw players from three cities in Sweden, Sundsvall, Rattvik and Gefle. Opening day for the Eliteserien was two weeks but but the following week, “our rock” was getting married so most of the team would be in Rattvik celebrating.
My soul was purified again as the guys gathered that day were pure sport playing for the love of the game and the right to represent the Flaming Goats. It was old school baseball with players and coaches hustling on every play. I knew we were pleasing the baseball gods as there were some real good athletes playing the game with spirit, skill and confidence. We played a spirited equivalent of three or four more games and although I could hardly walk when I returned to my apartment in Satra, I knew I was with baseball angels and was pleasing the baseball gods. I knew the pain was somehow part of the exorcism process to end the curse of the Billy and his Goat Murphy. The pain from the torn meniscus I had suffered my last days as a Sheriff was tough but I knew the baseball gods would reward me if I sucked it up, toughed it out and did the best I could.
The season flew by as Dave Clark came to Sweden with his family for June and the Goats Eliteserien team went on a winning streak to clinch their spot in the Eliteserien by mid-summer.
We also started a girls team that was pure sport times ten as dozens of girls came out and played marathon games where every girl hustled and developed their baseball skills and had lots of fun as they learned the Chicago style of baseball. Anne-Sofie and Carol Jansson did a wonderful job creating great baseball experiences for all the girls as the sun did shine well after nine in Gefle.
The club also has a great program with the schools in Gavle where as part of the school curriculum they would come to the baseball field and learn about baseball. Again, the Chicago style softball was a hit and there were smiles on the baseball diamond that had to affect the baseball gods as there is nothing so sweet as hitting a ball on the sweet spot of the bat for the first time or any time as it is almost a weightless feeling that vibrates in the soul. Olf “Doc” and Morgan Dahlberg were excellent teachers with a true passion and love for the game that was contagious and made the “baseball classroom” days on the field so wonderful. Thanks.
The Gefle Flaming Goats also had a “junior” –under 19 team, that was perhaps the greatest “team” I have ever been part of or for that matter ever saw. It was a long season of travels but by the time we got to “Goatfest” and then to Stockholm for the semi-final and final games, we were one for all and all for one, a pure team with only one goal and that was the glory of the Goats. I was blessed with wonderful coaches as Par and Blake from Rattvik were awesome and the guys from Gefle, Doc, Morgan, Mattias, Jocke and were awesome as they taught the kids to play the game right way. We all learned the true secret of baseball and life: Baseball like life is a team game played by individuals and when the individual is willing to sacrifice and work for the betterment of the team– the individual finds his true happiness….. One becomes part of that cosmic team and to us that was winning regardless of the scoreboard. We also won on the scoreboard too as 22 kids played in the semi-final victory over Alby and our total collective karma was needed to defeat an extremely talented team from Stockholm in the finals.
The Gefle Flaming Goats spirit was something to behold as these guys and gals were not tainted by million dollar, multiyear contracts or media induced stardom: it was all about the game and the joy that it brings. The Flaming Goats believe in baseball and they will do all they can to help the Cubs end the curse of da Goat!