A Perfect Game

Last week, Don Sutton, Atlanta Braves radio
announcer, told this story about Sandy Koufax.  Don’t stop reading
because you aren’t a baseball fan because it’s not a baseball story.  Oh, it might sound like one initially, but
trust me, it isn’t.  This is a story about
attitude, or perspective, or goal setting, or… well, read the story and you’ll
know what it’s about.

Both Don Sutton and Sandy Koufax are enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame.  That means they are among
the best that have played the position. 
They both played for the Dodgers: Koufax from 1955 – 1966; Sutton from
1966 – 1980.  This isn’t a story that has
been rewritten and changed and rewritten until it has no connection with
truth.  This is a first-hand account of
what Sandy Koufax told Don Sutton when Don asked him if his goal was to pitch a
perfect game every time he pitched.

Before I tell the story there are some definitions you
should know.  A perfect game is 9 innings long, 27 batters come to the plate, and they
are all retired – no one gets on base. 
There have only been twenty perfect games in the history of major league
baseball, which covers more than 100 years. 
A no hitter meets the
definition of a perfect game with one exception; someone got on base by either
being walked or hit with a pitch.  A shut out is a game in which the
opposing team scores no runs.

Now, “the rest of the story.”   When Sutton asked Koufax if his goal was to throw
a perfect game every time he pitched, he said, “Yes.  And I kept that goal until I walked a batter,
then I revised it and determined that I would pitch a no hitter.  That remained my objective until someone got
a hit.  If that happened I decided that
the game would be a shut-out.  If they scored
a run I made a final revision of my objective for the game.   I committed
to do everything I could to make sure we won.”

Everything we choose to do requires an
expenditure of time and effort.   Get the
most from your investment.  Commit to a “perfect
game” in everything, every time.  If
something stops your perfect game, revise your goal just like Sandy Kovacs,
who, by the way, is one of the twenty pitchers to pitch a perfect game.