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On May 18, 2004, Randy "Big Unit" Johnson of the Arizona Diamondbacks pitched a perfect game in a 2-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves. The perfect game was the second no-hitter of his already legendary career. What's so perfect about a "perfect game"? It's the rarest of accomplishments for a pitcher. A lesser milestone is the "shut-out." This means that some players may have hit safely, but none were able to score; the opposing team finished the game with no runs. A "no-hitter" means some players may have walked to first base, but no hits (and of course, no runs) were allowed. In a perfect game, not a single batter reached first base! No runs, no hits, no walks: total domination by the pitcher. Randy Johnson's perfect game was only the 17th in the history of major league baseball. It goes without saying that to get credit for such an accomplishment, the pitcher has to finish the game - pitch all nine innings. Seldom does a pitcher go the distance in professional baseball today. After 90-100 hard throws, a pitcher's arm begins to tire and he starts to "lose his stuff." He starts missing the strike zone; he loses control of his breaking pitches; his fast ball slows down. At this point in the game, the batters find it easier to connect with the ball, and a sensible manager will replace the starting pitcher with a reliever. Randy Johnson went the distance, pitching a perfect game at the age of 40! Previously, the oldest baseball player to do so was the legendary Cy Young at the age of 37, 100 years ago. Already honored with five Cy Young Awards and MVP of the 2001 World Series, this performance adds an exclamation point to his many accomplishments. Few pitchers have the awesome skill and presence to cause a batter to doubt his own self-confidence the way Randy Johnson does. That he can do this at the age of 40 boggles the mind. They call him The Big Unit because he's almost seven feet tall, and because of his legendary fastball. Early in his career, he overpowered batters with triple-digit "heat." Then about ten years ago, he began to concentrate more on control, on throwing strikes, and his strikeout statistics increased. In Tuesday night's game, his final pitch was a strike to pinch-hitter Eddie Perez, a 98-mph fastball. Only a few major league pitchers can throw a ball that hard. If Perez was disheartened by the experience, he was not alone. On the other hand, try to imagine yourself in Randy Johnson's shoes at the top of the ninth inning. Your team is batting and you're resting on the bench, alone with your thoughts. Soon you'll be back on the mound, protecting your team's 2-0 lead. You know the Braves desperately want to win; they don't want to be totally dominated by an oldster like you. You're tired and your throwing arm is sore. The win is on your shoulders now. A no-hitter and a perfect game are on the line. One of the reasons I love sports is because winning often requires very high levels of effort in adverse circumstances. Everything hinges on what a player does when he's discouraged, under pressure, tired and in pain. Yes, it's only a game, but it's a game only a few elite athletes can play. They prevail in situations like this game only because they bring enormous character strength to bear: effort, excellence, enthusiasm, patience, persistence, self-confidence, self-discipline and composure. Randy Johnson did what could not be done...at least until he did it. It's stuff like this that puts baseball fans over the top. It's why they buy all those expensive tickets. Randy's achievement was one of the Big Sports Stories of 2004. And it will make his future corner in the Baseball Hall of Fame even more interesting.
Article Source: http://www.articledestination.com
Dennis E. Coates is CEO of Performance Support Systems, author of MindFrames, a brain-based personality assessment system (www.initforlife.com) and co-founder of the Train-to-Ingrain alliance (www.train-to-ingrain.com, info@train-to-ingrain.com, 800-488-6463), which delivers a reinforcement-centered approach to learning and development that achieves permanent, measurable improvements in workplace behavior and positive impacts on business results.
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