Time to go to bat

By Tim Eberhart, executive director
Rainsville Chamber of Commerce
Newspaper column for July 30, 2010 edition

Hank Aaron and Willie Mays are by far my all-time favorite baseball players. Maybe it's because both men are Alabamians by birth. Or, maybe it's because of the way they could change the outlook of a game when they had a bat in their hands.

Both men are included any time the best-player-of-all-time argument comes up. Their statistics-Aaron's 755 home runs, 3,771 hits, and 2,297 RBIs, and Mays' 12 Gold Glove awards, 660 home runs, and two 50 home-run seasons-put a lot of distance between them and most of their peers.

Aaron played most of his career on mediocre Braves teams. Mays played on Giants teams that finished ahead of the Braves most of the time, but he only played in the playoffs four times during his prime

Even so, both men showed a great deal of loyalty to the cities they played in. Aaron stuck with the Braves through good and bad-mostly bad- until he was 40 years old. Mays was a Giant until he was 41.

In my opinion, the things that stand out the most about them are their combined 45 seasons and 26,433 plate appearances. Along with all their amazing accomplishments and loyalty, one thing's for sure-they were going to go to bat, and go to bat often.
It's time for you and I to go to bat for the local economy.

By my estimation, there are hundreds, maybe over 1,000 businesses in DeKalb County that sell products or services directly to consumers. They are depending on our choices to help them make it to extra innings. These businesses are home to thousands of jobs.

If you don't care about supporting those jobs, please consider that when we choose to purchase goods and services in another county or state-or online-we are choosing to spend our money where other people support their own school activities, and where other people fund their own stuff like street and park maintenance.

They probably won't even miss you if you don't go to neighboring counties and states -or online-for your 2010 back-to-school and holiday shopping needs. And the home team needs you more than they do.

We're in the on-deck circle. Collectively we carry a big bat. It's a great time to approach the plate with our loyalty showing. We can change the outlook of this game.

Contact info

Rainsville Chamber of Commerce
PO Box 396; Rainsville, AL 35986

115 Main Street West
PHONE: 256-638-7800