Baseball DIY

Continuing with the discussion Eric opened yesterday about performing in the "clutch", I have to say that I'm a firm believer of the concept although I agree that it is used far too often as a descriptive term. I became a believer when I watched Kirk Gibson limp out to take his swings in the 1988 World Series for the Dodgers. Gibson was so injured that he had been unable to play and everyone knew it. The only way he could really contribute was to hit a homerun because he was one hell of an easy out. But he came through hugely in what had to be one of the bigger clutch scenarios in baseball. I don't even really like the Dodgers and I was screaming along with everybody else when he nailed it.

Now should Gibson have come through on every other at bat? Of course he should. But there are always moments when the game is on the line or the plane is about crash or the baby needs to be fed NOW and those are clutch moments (albeit some far more critical than others). To me, coming through in the clutch is rising above the pressures of the moment, ignoring the intensity. That's a very hard thing to do on any level and some of us are far better at it than others.

Kirk Gibson's home run is one of my favorite sports moments of all time and proof positive that movies like The Natural are more grounded in reality than any of us might think.

Now I'm back to working on my book about Alaska flying. If you want to know about some more scary-ass clutch moments, feel free to ask.