A Playful Mojave Undertone & A Veteran Pitcher’s Savvy

The shakes started my day. Didn’t get out of bed for two hours. Sat there checking stats. I let one bad day on a 40% completed project get the better of me.

Nobody Successful Goes Undefeated.

Even Muhammad Ali Lost his title fair and square at one point.

So I showered, met a friend for lunch, helped my grandfather get the rest of the old furniture out of his basement, mowed the lawn, walked to the post office, went out to dinner, watched the lights go down while walking in the rain, showered up, finished notes for my sister & relaxed.

I was gripping.

They say the difference between young baseball pitchers & savvy veterans is that the veterans know that the movement of their pitches is more important than their speed. When the pitching motion is natural, the ball snaps off the fingers & the movement is harder for batters to discern. Deception triumphs over power. Even the smallest of batters can hit a 95 MPH fastball, but not if they’re not completely sure where it’s going.

Because of this knowledge, when veterans don’t have their control, they loosen their grip and thrower softer instead of throwing harder. The younger pitchers, on the other hand, when in a tight spot and without their “A” game, have a tendency to try to throw too hard in attempts to simply throw it by batters. They tense up. The arm looses flexibility and the ball looses movement. And before you know it, a batter hits one of those pitches that can only land with clearance from an air traffic controller.

So I loosened my grip.

A few years ago when I started my career, I would have pushed on through the night to try and make up for it and I would be worn for a few days, running a caffeine IV and snacking every hour until I caught up. Then I would crash for two days. That’s how I ballooned to 262 lbs. Today, for the first time, I let go. I’m going to try and have faith in the what will be’s and rest up for the next game.

Because tomorrow, the game begins anew.

And hopefully, I’ll catch a playful sunset with Mojave Undertones.

Summer of 210,000 Daily Stats

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Photo Credit: fcaplow via Flickr

Last updated by Finn at August 6, 2020.