grace under pressure

I've been meaning to talk about this, but I was busy yesterday (Dad's birthday). On Wednesday afternoon, while driving to Buffalo Exchange, I was listening to the Angels/Yankees game on AM 830 KLAA. On the radio, Brett Gardner was at-bat and ending up getting ejected after arguing a strike. Clearly, as a baseball fan you wonder, "Who the heck are they going to pick to pinch-hit for Gardner?"

Send in Colin Curtis, of course.

photo credit

Now, here is some background info on Curtis. Curtis is a 25-year-old rookie from Issaquah, Wash., who was drafted in the fourth round out of Arizona State University by the New York Yankees. He was called up last month, and until Wednesday, had about 26 at-bats before pinch-hitting for Gardner.

Now, I must admit, this is definitely amazing, yet nerve racking for a rookie to pinch-hit on a 0-2 count with two men on base. How do you expect to keep calm under that much pressure? And mind you, it was a close game. I couldn't believe what I was hearing after his at-bat (more on that later).

After the game, I thought about how much pressure society puts on each indivdual. We all have our different ways on how to deal with such pressure. Whether the pressure is preparing for an interview, trying to figure what college to go to, or even what to eat for breakfast (okay, so maybe that last one isn't that stressful). But, as you can see, among veterans we are all rookies hoping to make that great first, second or third impression. We each have this desire to prove ourselves to others because A) we want to fit in or B) we don't want to be put in a certain category i.e. the incompetant category.

So, how do we deal with pressure?

There isn't a definite answer to this question. As I have mentioned above, each person has their own way of dealing with this. One thing I can say is to take a moment and look at the big picture. Take a couple breaths. Count to ten. And remember that it isn't the end of the world because you tried your hardest and sometimes the outcome isn't what you hope for.

Oh, by the way ....

Curtis ended up hitting a three-run homerun after working the count full and sealing a win for the Yankees.

Talk about grace under pressure.