Don’t Leave Your Fate Up to the Umpires
Any half-witted athlete knows just how important officials are to the world of sports. Umpires are no different for the game of baseball. We need them because they are of tremendous value in so many ways. They do so much more than “call the game” as we say. They control the pace of the game. They are responsible for upholding the integrity of the game. A good umpire knows how to keep peace on the field or bring peace back to field of play if chaos rears its ugly head. If we truly recognized just how important blues are to the game, we’d be much more intentional in showing our gratitude rather than our disdain. But that’s another topic for another time.
As much as I value umpires, as a hitter, I don’t believe in leaving my fate up to them. Time and time again, I have watched batters blow their tops after a called strike three where the ball missed the zone by an inch or more. Please, don’t get me wrong. I’m not suggesting that we, as a batters, shouldn’t be frustrated by bad calls. It’s quite the opposite. If I get a called third strike and I believe it was a ball, you can bet I’m gonna be pretty irate. But what if we could minimize those experiences by taking a different approach at the plate?
“Every pitch is a strike until it’s not.”
