Last night, The Texas Rangers lost to the Chicago White Sox. In the end, that’s all that really matters and, in the end, the record will probably show that the score was 7-6, with Chicago scoring more runs in nine innings to set the record as a win for them. Any other facts notwithstanding that is fair…but it wasn’t fair at all…and that’s probably OK.
The “Unfairness”
The winning run of the game was scored when a runner was called out at home plate but the call was overturned when Chicago asked for a review of the call. The rule that was invoked to overturn the call was that Texas’ catcher illegally blocked the plate. It’s a rule that was created to prevent physical contact on plays at the plate. Previous to the rule being put in place, the catcher was allowed to block the plate with his entire body if he desired to prevent the run from scoring. The reason or validity of the rule in the course of playing the game can be an entire blog post in and of itself. Ultimately, the facts are that Jonah Heim, the Rangers catcher, did not block the plate at all. https://sports.yahoo.com/rangers-manager-bruce-bochy-unloads-on-mlb-replay-center-after-dumbfounding-call-gives-white-sox-go-ahead-run-045104439.html
The fact that the wrong call was made after the right call was made…is life. To expect everyone to be perfect all of the time is an unrealistic expectation. Some people’s imperfections will be more public than others but it’s still what it is…being human. And should we condemn people for being human? Of course not.
That’s OK
We should strive and push ourselves and others to perfection…and accept when they fail in that pursuit and encourage them to keep striving. That is life. There are so many other endeavors in life that are more important than a baseball game some might say. But even in this endeavor, there are jobs, livelihoods, reputations, and yes, money involved…so it’s not that simple…and it is a part of life. And a part of life is accepting that it will be unfair sometime.
How we handle failure and unfairness can be difficult sometimes. And that’s OK.
