Dance With Who Brung Ya and Don’t Overthink

The playoffs in baseball are fun to watch. Pressure gets heightened. In baseball, they play a 162 game schedule and the season can come down to one game in a 5 or 7 game series. Hockey and basketball are similar but different because baseball is so much tougher. Great hitters barely get a hit 30% of the time. A slight difference in how a pitcher delivers the ball and it changes the entire game.  I am chagrined the Cubs weren’t part of it this year but I have confidence that they will be back.

Giants fans are whooping it up today.  For those that don’t know the Giants and Dodgers have a historical rivalry that extends back to the time both teams were in NYC.

I took some people to a baseball game this year that had never been to one.   They had trouble understanding some of it.  It’s such an American game.  Individual players stand out, but are a part of a team.  There is room for redemption and one mistake isn’t the end of the line.  There is strategy, odds, deception.  There are heroic efforts.  Anyone can play.  Tall short, fat doesn’t matter.  There is a position for you.  There is no time clock in baseball, the leadership style is different. Bigger rosters mean you have more resources. The only time limit is 27 outs. The first team to 27 with the most runs wins. Things happen slowly, there is room for frustration and drama. There certainly is drama in other sports but it happens in such a compressed time period that sometimes it is over before you notice it. Yesterday, you could learn from the Dodgers loss about managing your company.

The Dodgers were up 3-0 early in the game. They were the best team in the NL by far all year. They had the best bullpen. They hit more home runs than anyone. Yet, in the key situation for their season instead of relying on what brought them there their manager, Dave Johnson, overthought the situation. Instead of turning to his bullpen which had been spot on the whole year he rolled out his ace pitcher in relief.

When you are a starting pitcher in baseball, there is a lot of ritual and routine. Mental and physical preparation. Typically, starters pitch on 4 days rest. Kershaw didn’t have that and he’s not used to walking into games with men on base.  Watching future Hall of Fame pitcher Justin Verlander lose the other day in Houston’s playoff game on 3 days rest will give you another clue.

The manager made a miscalculation. Instead of dancing with who brung him to the dance, he did something unorthodox. When you are successful and in pressure situations, doing the unorthodox isn’t always the right thing to do. Cubs fans will know the feeling. Game 7 in Cleveland is always talked about as a game where Joe Maddon’s decisions on pitching almost blew it for the Cubs.

Of course, the other team has to execute in the situation. If the Nationals don’t hit home runs, the Dodgers roll into the next series. There are two sides to the coin.

But, in business when you have a strong hand you keep playing it. You do it until it gets stopped. Don’t overthink it and try to be cute or different all of a sudden when the things you have been doing consistently bring you success. That’s the power move.