I shared a great story with our students today about a baseball player who was only 1 out away from throwing a perfect game last night. With 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth, he ran to cover first base after a ground ball forced the first baseman to leave his position. It was a close play, but the runner was clearly out. However, the umpire declared him to be safe.
As you can imagine, this caused quite a stir inside the stadium and prompted an irate manager to storm the field. He managed to express his disagreement with the call in his own special way. Managers have a way of doing such things. All the while, the pitcher stood on the mound waiting for the next batter to step into the box. This young man was more interested in getting his team the victory than arguing over a call that was not going to be changed. He simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled. To me, that is admirable. After the game, the umpire was approached by many reporters and cameras. He quickly admitted that he had made a terrible call and acknowledged that his mistake cost a young man a piece of baseball history. In many ways, his actions after the game were admirable, too. He accepted responsibility for his mistake, apologized to the pitcher and moved on. The pitcher decided to move on, too. He believed the umpire felt worse about it than he did. He said that everyone makes mistakes and he had no hard feelings toward him. He hopes to be in a similar position the next time he pitches.
This provides a great lesson to kids. You do not have to love baseball to understand this story's main ideas. We are all only human. We all make mistakes. While it may be easy to blame others, it often doesn't change anything. We can forgive and move on. Way to go Mr. Galarraga. You provided a "perfect" example to children everywhere.
Thanks,
Mr. Masucci
