Top-5 Mac Musings – September 16, 2025

HOBBS, YOU GET BACK HERE!!
After spending nearly 13 years working in perpetual fog – both literal and figurative – at the University of San Francisco I spent a thoroughly enjoyable year working at Pepperdine University on the shores of Malibu. My office view was amazing and it was the perfect spot to be with a great group working on a stunning campus.

It was there I had one of the more remarkable one-off conversations. You know the ones I mean. You just happen upon someone and spend what seems like hours but in actuality was probably 30-45 minutes locked in a delightful conversation. It’s like you’ve suddenly discovered the perfect dance partner, or in this case, co-conspirator in an outstanding exchange of thought and ideas and wit and wisdom.

While standing in line for a caffeine fix, I met a sports psychologist who was consulting with the Pepperdine tennis and golf programs. This immediately caught my interest and she mentioned a couple Olympic and NBA players she worked with. It was here that I could no longer help myself and I launched into a discussion of one of my favorite all-time movies – The Natural. 

Specifically the part where a 1930s era sports psychologist was called in to work with the New York Knights baseball team which was mired in a decades long slump. The shrink uttered the line “Losing is a disease…”

Without any prompting she locks eyes with me and says, “Now Hobbs… you get back here!!!” I almost passed out on the spot. She knew… she used her insight and clinical background to peer deep into my soul and she read me instantly.

From there we were off and running. A simply delightful conversation. For those of you wondering, nope… I never saw her again. I blame my utter lack of game. But to this day, I treasure that conversation and I spent a lot of time reflecting on it today.

Because today, the immortal slugging rightfielder for the New York Knights passed away. Robert Redford was 89.

STORY TIME
The Natural was the second sports movie I ever watched. The Bad News Bears was the first. I remember how excited my mom was to pick it up from the Longview Library. Much later it occurred to me that Robert Redford probably had more than a little something to do with her interest level.

A brief synopsis for those who haven’t seen it in a while. I refuse to do a “spoiler alert” for a movie that is about due for a knee replacement.

The Natural is basically the story of a mysterious baseball prodigy who shows up late in life, smacks home runs with a lightning-kissed bat, and somehow turns America’s pastime into a mythic fairy tale where striking out in love hurts almost as much as striking out at the plate. The hero, Roy Hobbs, gets shot for not taking a dive, recovers and hits the best home run in movie history before heading into retirement.

I probably watched this with my mom and dad a dozen times and the scene we quoted most was around the sports psychologist. Losing IS a disease. I’ve been around a lot of teams and sometimes the most elusive thing is finding that one magical moment that can snap a losing streak. Books have been written about it. Thousands of coaches have been fired because they couldn’t solve it. 

Losing Robert Redford is a big loss. The star of some of cinema’s most iconic movies, including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All The President’s Men, tackled passion projects with gusto. Much like his Sundance co-star Paul Newman, Redford was committed to making the world a better place and championed democracy and took a stand against those who tried to harm it.

Mac Musings for Tuesday, September 16.

1. Wilford Brimley played the NY Knights manager. He looked 70 in the movie, but was actually just two years older (49) in real life than Redford (47) at the time of filming.
2. Star of Cocoon and The Firm, Brimley would later secure his most iconic role in the legendary DIA-BEET-US commercials.
3. Randy Newman composed the score for the Natural. He also did Shawshank Redemption and the Toy Story series for Pixar. The music swelling as Hobbs hits his final home run never fails to give me chills.
4. Since you asked so nicely… my top-5 baseball movie characters. As always, no particular order.
   • Roy Hobbs, New York Knights
   • Crash Davis, Durham Bulls
   • Harry Doyle, Major League
   • Hamilton “Ham” Porter, The Sandlot
   • Kelly Leak, Bad News Bears
5. The fact that the late Michael Madsen was in this film never ceases to amaze me. It was his third movie role and 10 years later he would be in the Doors, Thelma and Louise and Reservoir Dogs… what a legend!

Now Watching: Blackhat, starring Chris Hemsworth

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