Plato said, “I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is I know nothing.”
Most are shaking our heads in agreement; that is until…someone asks our opinion. Our heart starts to race and our mouth engages, saying stuff. Maybe it is based upon emotion; maybe on a previous experience, but seldom is it based upon thought! Ever notice there is a direct correlation between the length of your answer and whether you have a clue to what you are talking about?
Especially when we are judging others.
You see, it has been proven we form an opinion of a person in less than a minute after meeting them. Something we do daily in our interactions with people in business and in sports. Which, in most cases, our observations, our opinions are WRONG!
The late Paul Richards’ (Orioles Manager and Houston General Manager) opinion/observation of Nolan Ryan is a perfect example. He described Ryan as a six-foot-one, 155 pound high school kid as “chicken chested.” Who cares whether he has a strong upper body and skinny legs in high school; the pressing question is whether he has a chance to be successful in professional baseball.
Unless you did your homework and knew what to look for, most would claim Nolan Ryan was a mediocre pitcher. No different than one Alvin High School fan who stated, “Nolie was wilder than a March hare” [Translation – he hit a lot of backstops]!
On the surface you may draw the same conclusion from his professional career. After all
- He never pitched a Perfect Game
- Nor did he ever win the CY Young
- He allowed 10 Grand Slams
- He holds the Major League Baseball (MLB) record for Wild Pitches: 277
- And he also holds the record for Walks given up: 2795
Mark Twain said, “It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt.”
You see to Red Murff‘s credit, he saw what others missed. You can be Wild as a “March Hare” and still amount to something, or at least become an eight (8) time All-Star and elected to the Hall of Fame in 1999.
Over his 27-year career
- Nolan Ryan struck out Seven (7) pairs of Fathers and their Sons
- Nolan Ryan’s uniform number is retired by the Angles, the Astros, and the Rangers [only other player to achieve this was Jackie Robinson].
Ole Chicken Chest threw 222 complete games, had 14 seasons where he threw at least 200 innings and two years where he threw 300 innings. That’s not all! This 6’1”/155 RHP holds the following records in Major League Baseball:
- No Hitters: 7
- Strikeouts: 5714
- Lowest Batting Average against: .204
- Fewest hits per 9 innings – career 6.56
- Fewest hits per 9 innings – season 5.26
The icing on the cake is his twelve (12) one-hitters and 18 two-hitters.
It is easy to understand why our judgements, especially about people, say more about who we are.
Until next Blog, Be like Red and focus on FACTS,
Al McCormick
