Philip Humber of the Chicago White Sox pitched a perfect game yesterday against the Seattle Mariners. It was only the 21st perfect game in major league history.
Brendan Ryan was the last batter.
Baseball is a game of tradition and etiquette. You don’t watch a homerun leave the park, you honor a streak, you don’t bunt or steal when you have a huge lead – and – I say – you don’t check your swing on a ninth inning, full count pitch, in a perfect game.
In that moment you either swing the bat or leave it on your shoulder and see if the guy has the stuff to throw you a strike. If you’re thinking you’re going to break a perfect game on a few degrees of a half swing, you are, well, missing the spirit of the moment. Your out-of-touch-ness is only amplified if you then argue the called strike!
I happened to stumble on Yankee Mike Mussina’s near-perfect game against the Red Sox on a random Sunday night in 2001. Carl Everertt took a swing and got a single on a two strike pitch. There was honor in the pitch and there was honor in the swing. It was heartbreaking, but dignified.
The lesson in this for all of us is it’s important to understand the gravity of the moment. It’s easy to get lost in your own head, but sometimes you have to force yourself to take a step back and think about the context of your next move – you might approach it a little differently – not all moments are equal.
Way to go Humber.
Go A’s.
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