One thing's for certain: Change always comes

Change is inevitable -- except from a vending machine.

-- Robert C. Gallagher

Looking at the election, I would say change is the theme of the week, the month and, it appears, the next few years.

Bring it on.

It was coming anyway, because it always comes.

You know it. I know it. We all know.

It's just that we don't often plan for it, which has always been one of the curious things in my observable life.

We expect plateaus; life gives us peaks and valleys.

It has ever been so.

The Bible ecclesiastically tells us everything has its season, and when it comes to seasons, my favorite is baseball -- a sport of subtle change.

Where else could a failing pitcher named Stan Musial find a Hall of Fame career after deciding to become a hitter?

Or a wild-armed catcher named Dale Murphy become the most beloved of Braves after he shifted to the outfield and won consecutive MVP awards?

But the all-time baseball poster boy for change is Jay Hanna Jerome Herman Dean, most commonly known as Dizzy.

He was a marvel on the mound -- the last National League pitcher to win 30 games in a season, one of the most successful and popular athletes of the 1930s, and yet ... change clung to him like a wet flannel uniform.

Sportswriters knew this because "Old Diz" frequently demonstrated his changeability to baseball's wordsmiths with a variety of versions of his life story, including different names, birth dates and hometowns.

"I wanted to give them all scoops," he explained.

His career was just as changeable.

Consider:

- His hard-throwing success led to his selection in the 1937 All-Star game, which was good.

- But during the game, he was struck in the foot by a line drive, fracturing his toe, which was bad.

- He recovered and returned to spend several more years in the National League, which was good.

- But he had altered his throwing motion because of the foot injury, which hurt his arm. This shortened his career, which was bad.

- But that led to his seeking new employment as a baseball broadcaster, which is where he earned more money and fame than ever before.

One door closes, another opens. So it is with us.

Will our communities, our states and our country change because of the week's elections?

Most assuredly. But that was going to happen, anyway.

Good, bad. Up, down.

We've all got change to spare.