Blowing your stack can be a good thing.(THE CLOSER)

Surely you saw clips of the guy who looked like he had lost his mind managing a minor league game. He was all over TV and the Internet for a few days. He was suspended and fined and was the subject of talk shows, and many of the comments focused on how bad he had acted and how he should be a better example for his players.

Well, in the minors I had the opportunity to play on the same team as that guy, Joe Mikulik, who manages the Class A Asheville team. In fact, I had the honor of being there the night Mikulik got his 1,000th minor league hit.

He played in the minors longer than he'd care to recount, and to say he played hard is an understatement. Joe was the first guy I saw who literally would have tried to run through a brick wall. He would dive, jump, lay out for any play even if it meant nothing. So imagine what he'd do if the game were on the line.

Joe hit leadoff, cleanup and just about everywhere. He'd play wherever he was asked to play. He was, to say the least, an organization guy. He never said a peep as guy after guy passed him by. He just kept working. He'd hit till his hands bled. He'd take grounders and fly balls till he lost his ...