Striking Out Isn't The End of The World: What We Can Learn from Baseball

7/31/2019 Striking Out Isn't The End of The World: What We Can Learn from Baseball

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Striking Out Isn't The End Of The WorldLessons To Learn From Baseball

Armando Galarraga, Smiling

hug Air onditioningam! Stone

Se"ond Session#$%#


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&LB areer Strikeout Leaders

% (eggie )a"kson * #,+-#.#/0+./1$, +.0 2('s, indu"ted into 2OF in %0, %1 Time All3Star, %-0 AL &45, %-0 World Series&45, %-- World Series &45

# )im Thome * #,+01#--/1$#/+++, .%% 2('s, + Time All3Star, #$$. AL omeba"k 5la6er,0 Samm6 Sosa * #,0$.

#-0/011/+01, .$ 2('s, - Time All3Star, %7 8L &451 Andres Galarraga3 #,$$0

#77/01-/1 0 2('s, + Time All3Star, %0 Batting title,+ Ale9 (odrigue:3#,$$$

0$%/07+/+.0, .11 2('s, %1 time All3Star, #$$0 AL &45, #$$+ AL &45, #$$- AL &45. Adam ;unn 3%,-+

#1%/0-%/+$%, 0. 2('s, # Time All3Star, 7 Straight Seasons ith 0$? 2('s- )ose ansen"o 3%,1#

#../0+0/+%+, 1.# 2('s, . Time All3Star, %77 AL &457 Willie Stargell 3%,0.

#7#/0.$/+# 1-+ 2('s, - Time All3Star, %- 8L &45, %- 8LS &45, %- WS &45, Indu"ted Into 2allof Fame in %77

&ike ameron 3%,$%#1/007/111, #-7 2('s, #$$% All3Star, 03Time Gold Glo@e Winner

%$ &ike S"hmidt * %,770#.-/07$/+#-, +17 2('s, %# Time All3Star, %7$ 8L &45, %7$ WS &45, %7% 8L &45, %7. 8L &45A@erage of To! %$ in Strikeouts 17+ 2('s, -0 All3Star A!!earan"es, % &45 A>ard

2ardest Batters To Strikeout In &LB 2istor6% )oe Se>ell3 's in 7,0# 5A

0%#/0%/1%0 1 2('s, $ All3Star a!!earan"es, Indu"ted into 2OF in %--# Llo6d Waner * %-0 's in 7,001 5A

0%./0+0/00 #- 2('s, % All3Star Game, Indu"ted into 2OF in %.-0 8ellie Fo9, #%. 's in %$,0+% 5A

#77/017/0.0 0+ 2('s, %+ Time All3Star, Indu"ted into 2OF in %-, %+ AL &451 Tomm6 2olmes, %## 's in +,+.1 5A

0$#/0../10# 77 2('s, % All3Star+ Tris S!eaker, 0+ 's in %%,% 5A

01+/1#7/+$$ %%- 2('s, Indu"ted into 2OF %0-, %%# AL &45. Stuff6 &"Innis #+% 's in 7,.01 5A

0$-/010/07% #$ 2('s, 8o a>ards- Sam (i"e #-+ 's in %$,1#- 5A

0##/0-1/1#- 01 2('s, Indu"ted into 2OF in %.07 Frankie Fris"h #-# 's in %$,$ 5A

0%./0./10#, %$+ 2('s, Indu"ted into 2OF in %1- Frank &"ormi"k, %7 's in .,#$. 5A

#/017/101, %#7 2('s, %1$ 8L &45, 7 Time All3Star%$ Eddie ollins, 1.7 's in %#,$1$ 5A

000/1#1/1#, 1- 2('s, Indu"ted into 2OF %0, %%1 AL &45A@erage .+ 2('sC


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Talmud Ba@li, Shabbos ++bDDDHJKDMNPQNKRHRDDQRDJDKHDDDKUUKNVRUU

Four !eo!le died be"ause of the bite of the snake Bin6omin son of a'ako@, Amram father of &oshe,ishai father of ;o@id, and, alei@ son of ;o@id

Are these high3a@erage hitters, or high3strikeout hittersXAre an6 of these !eo!le famousXWhat does that sa6 about >hat >e @alueX

ohelet, -#$ , - -- , !What are the !ossible >a6s to read this !assukX

Inter@ie> With Arts"roll Editor (abbi 8osson S"hermanHow do you respond to critics who accuse ArtScroll biographies of whitewashing history by

characterizing great rabbis as saints without faults?

Our goal is to in"rease Torah learning and 6iras shama6im If somebod6 "an be ins!ired b6 a gadol

bY6israel, then let him be ins!ired Is it ne"essar6 to sa6 that he had short"omingsX ;oes that hel! 6ou

be"ome a better !ersonX What about lashon haraX ou kno> in toda6Ys >orld, lashon hara is a mit:@ah

hara"ter assassination sells !a!ers ThatYs not >hat lal israel is all about

Isnt it a form of sheker (falsehood) though

to write a biography and knowingly e!clude material?

Wh6 is it sheker to omit lashon haraX ItYs not 5eo!le sa6, ZWell, >h6 donYt 6ou sa6 that this or that

gadol had "ertain serious "hara"ter fla>sXZ So 6ouYre not sa6ing it Is that shekerX ItYs not sheker (a@

aako@ aminet:k6 on"e said in a ZshmuessZ that if 6ou go o@er to somebod6 and sa6, Zou kno> 6ou

ha@e a long ugl6 nose,Z that doesnYt make 6ou an ish emes [man of truthC That makes 6ou a rasha

[>i"ked !ersonC\

;oes (abbi S"herman >ant to !ortra6 gedolim as high3a@erage hitters, or high3!o>er hittersX What

might be his moti@ationX ;o 6ou think that is a good ideaX


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(abbi it:"ak 2utner, Letters and Writings, no %#7

A failing man6 of us suffer is that >hen >e fo"us on the ultimate le@el of the attainments of great !eo!le, >e

dis"uss ho> the6 are "om!lete in this or that area >hile omitting mention of the inner struggles that had

!re@iousl6 raged >ithin them A listener >ould get the im!ression that these indi@iduals "ame out of the hand of

their reator in full3blo>n ideal form

E@er6one is a>ed at the !urit6 of s!ee"h of the hofet: haim, "onsidering it a mira"ulous !henomenon But

>ho kno>s of the battles, struggles and obsta"les, the slum!s and regressions that the hofet: haim

en"ountered in his >ar >ith the 6et:er hara hi"h a

dis"erning indi@idual su"h as 6ourself "an "ertainl6 a!!l6 the rule

The result of this failing is that >hen an ambitious 6oung man of s!irit and enthusiasm meets obsta"les, falls and

slum!s, he imagines himself as un>orth6 of being Z!lanted in the house of 2ashemZ A""ording to this 6oung

man's fan"6, flourishing in the house of 2ashem means to re!ose >ith "alm s!irit on Zlush meado>sZ beside

Ztran]uil >atersZ [Tehillim #0C delighting in the 6et:er hato@, in the manner of the righteous delighting in the

refle"tion of the She"hinah, >ith "ro>ns on their heads, gathered in Gan Eden And at the same time, untroubled

b6 the agitation of the 6et:er hara, along the lines of the @erse ZFree among the deadZ [Tehillim 77.C

no>, ho>e@er, m6 dear friend, that 6our soul is rooted not in the tran]uilit6 of the 6et:er to@, but rather in the

battle of the 6et:er to@ And 6our !re"ious, >arm3hearted letter Ztestifies as one hundred >itnessesZ that 6ou are

a >orth6 >arrior in the battalion of the 6et:er to@ The English e9!ression, ZLose a battle and >in a >arZ a!!lies

ertainl6, 6ou ha@e stumbled and >ill stumble again ill emerge from the >ar>ith laurels of @i"tor6 u!on 6our head and >ith the fresh !re6 ]ui@ering bet>een 6our teeth Lose battles but

>in >ars

The >isest of all men has said, ZA ^ust man falls se@en times and rises againZ [&ishlei #1%.C Fools belie@e the

intent of this @erse is to tea"h us something remarkable 3 the ^ust man has fallen se@en times and 6et he rises But

the kno>ledgeable are a>are that the essen"e of the t:addik's rising again is b6 >a6 of his se@en falls Z 'And 2e

sa> all that 2e had made and behold, it >as @er6 good' 'Good' that is the 6et:er to@ '4er6 good' that is the

6et:er haraZ [Bereishis (abbah %

&6 "herished one, I "las! 6ou to m6 heart, and >his!er in 6our ear that had 6our letter re!orted on 6our mit:@os

and good deeds, I >ould ha@e said that I had re"ei@ed a good letter from 6ou As things stand, >ith 6our letter

telling of slum!s and falls and obsta"les, I sa6 that I ha@e re"ei@ed a @er6 good letter from 6ou our s!irit is

storming as it as!ires to greatness I beg of 6ou, do not !ortra6 for 6ourself great men as being as one >ith their

6et:er to@ 5i"ture rather their greatness in terms of an a>esome >ar >ith e@er6 base and lo> in"lination


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When 6ou feel the turmoil of the 6et:er hara >ithin 6ourself, kno> that >ith that feeling 6ou resemble great menfar more than >ith the feeling of dee! !ea"e, >hi"h 6ou desire In those @er6 areas >here 6ou feel 6ourselffailing most fre]uentl6 3 !arti"ularl6 in those areas 3 do 6ou ha@e the greatest !otential for ser@ing as aninstrument of distin"tion for the honor of 2ashem

What >ould (a@ 2utner sa6 to (a@ S"hermanXWould (a@ 2utner !refer high3a@erage hitters or high3!o>er hittersX

;irk 2a6hurst, Former &inor League 5it"herWhen 6ou !it"h great itYs eas6 to >alk into the >eight room and kno"k out 6our !ostgame maintenan"e 2e"k,sometimes 6ou "ome into that >eight room "harged u! and raring to do t>i"e as mu"h ou feel like su!erman,riding out the adrenaline of the game, marinating in 6our o>n a>esomeness As 6ou !ound out 6our re!s 6ou"anYt hel! but think to 6ourself and ho> dedi"ated 6ou are, ho>, someda6, >hen ES58 does a stor6 on 6ou,the6Yll talk e9tensi@el6 about 6our dedi"ation to >orking out hard and ho> the masterful !it"hing !erforman"e>as ûst another !art of 6our ma"hismo B6 the time 6ou get i"e on 6our arm, 6ouYre "on@in"ed 6ouYre some sortof >ar hero read6 to shake hands >ith the !resident

Those da6s are good da6s, in fa"t, the6Yre >hat 6ou !la6 for and 6ou should enô6 them ;a6s like those make

the follo>ing da6Ys long run go faster, ball bu"ket dut6 more enô6able, e@en "harting a treat But, an6 bod6 "an

!ut in the e9tra >ork >hen the6 feel on to! of the >orld An6one "an go the e9tra mile >hen the6 feel likesu!erman An6one "an feel like a statisti"al mastermind >hen their last outing >as a mathemati"al gem ItYs

ama:ing ho> eas6 this game feels>hen 6ouYre doing >ell

ItYs also ]uite ama:ing ho> tedious, hea@6, and doom filled this game looks >hen 6ou stink at it ome out of a

game >here in the best !it"h 6ou thre> >as 6our glo@e as 6ou angril6 rifled it into 6our lo"ker and tell me ho>

mu"h 6ou look for>ard to 6our maintenan"e routineX Tell me ho> long that run feels the ne9t da6, or ho> angr6

6ou get at 6our teammates for not lobbing those shagged B5 balls "lose to the ball bu"ketX As good as !it"hing

great feels, !it"hing bad feels e]uall6 terrible It >ill su"k the moti@ation right out of 6our soul

One of the best !it"hers IY@e e@er6 !la6ed >ith >as (o6 2allada6 2is >orkout routines are the stuff of legend

Long, grueling regimens that make 6ou >onder if 6ou e@en s"rat"hed the definition of _>ants it bad\ (o6Ys had

a lot more good da6s than bad ones on the mound, but for all the great outings heYs had itYs his bad ones thatim!ress me the most After a game in >hi"h heYs been kno"ked around, >hen it >ould be eas6 to sa6, _IYm ri"h,

IYm in great sha!e, IYm a !erennial all3star` I ûst need a break\ he goes right from the field to his long, grueling

regimenno ]uestions asked As e@er6 !it"her kno>s, the hea@iest >eight to lift is that of a bad outing, and

(o6, along >ith all the other things heYs mastered in baseball, is a master of lifting himself out from under failure

and mar"hing on to his ne9t "han"e at su""ess

For most !it"hers, this is the se!arator E@er6one has failure in this s!ort In fa"t, itYs a s!ort built on failure so

6ou should e9!e"t to ha@e it at some !oint Someone has to lose, after all, or there >ould be no >inners

O""asionall6, itYs going to be 6ou The best thing 6ou do >hen it ha!!ens is "hange the >a6 6ou look at failure

earl6 gl6 numbers donYt ne"essaril6 mean 6ou !it"hed badl6 Write3u!s in ne>s!a!ers donYt a bad !it"her

make Toda6Ys boos >ill be"ome tomorro>Ys "heers ou telling 6ourself 6ouYre a failure on the other hand, >ell,that means a lot

The gameYs result is ûst one !art of 6our !it"hing !ro"ess, and not e@en the most im!ortant one The re"o@er6

!hase is >hat trul6 matters, es!e"iall6 after a bad outing In the re"o@er6 !hase 6ou >ill "hoose to look at

6ourself as a su""ess or a failure ou >ill de"ide if 6ou should kee! !ushing or fold ou >ill "hoose to !ut 6our

>ork in or bo> out Winners are made in ho> the6 re"o@er from failure and 6es, as "hees6 as it sounds, 6ou "an

>in out o@er baseball e@en >hen it ki"ks 6our butt on the field if "hoose too


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Striking Out Isn't The End of The World: What We Can Learn from Baseball