My oldest boy just completed his first year in the majors as a nine year old. He’s an exceptional ball player and I’m not just saying that as his dad, his talent got him there not me. I generally try to stay out of the “day-to-day” coaching because sometimes I think I miss the big picture as a father, instead of seeing things as a coach. So I let some of the other coaches handle that, and return the favor as needed. As the youngest player on the team, he was missing the experience that comes with playing for 3 years against all levels of kids, and more importantly, he needed to learn the hard lesson of playing in the big leagues. At this level, there was no mercy inning rule, kids could actually pitch, and he wasn’t going to always get the stolen base. It was tough year and he learned the hard way that talent alone couldn’t get you through the game.

One game we had a particularly cantankerous ump. For those of you who don’t understand American baseball, this is the guy who can control the flow of the game. His calls can make the game fun, or drag on forever. While the strike zone is defined by the rule book, the ump’s interpretation can vary widely. A good pitcher will pick up on this and use it to his advantage. My son was behind in the count and was doing an admirable job of protecting; he’s a monster inside hitter and will make you pay dearly for it. This pitcher was however a seasoned older kid, and was well aware of the strike zone and my sons love of the inside. The pitcher threw a hard shot inside trying to establish possession of the plate, and my boy returned the favor by ripping a nice shot just outside the first base line. Still 3-2, and knowing the strike zone called the pitcher slings a fast ball below the outside corner. It was so low, it was almost in the dirt, and my boy left it hanging there. “Steeeee-rike!”

He came running back in the dugout nearly in tears. In the minor leagues my son had made a living off of taking good pitches or walking (including taking a ball on a 3-2 pitch with 2 outs in the championship game the year before). He knew the strike zone well and there it served him to his advantage. Most of those pitchers couldn’t get it consistently in the strike zone, much less paint the corners. It was a good strategy and worked well for him, but now he was in a different league, literally and figuratively. He couldn’t understand how the ump could make such a bad call (and it was horrible don’t get me wrong). I had some discussions with him, which I’ve told here, but I left the conversation off with the statement "We play the game we're given. Quit whining and get past it."

We’ve all been there; behind in the count and the ump totally blows the call. If that’s your last at bat, then yeah it sucks. But if you go up to the plate and let it happen to you again? Well, you’re an asshole. Recently there was a pretty lengthy debate about a dad who “accidently” informed his daughter of his ex-wife’s infidelity. Was it a shitty move? Personally, I don’t think so. I think it’s a clear case of someone playing the game they were given. This is a great example of but for, or proximate cause. The OP’s daughter would have never known but for her mother’s poor decisions and bad behavior. Who is to say she wouldn’t have painted the father in a bad light? I know plenty of guys who are stand up dads, attentive husbands and good providers who get hit with the “He didn’t attend to my needs”. Reputation is everything, remember guard it with your life. Once someone puts that kind of amorphous bullshit claim out there, no matter how wrong it is it can’t be undone.

I had a boss early in my career that was a standup guy. He was an engineer’s, engineer, and taught me more than I can ever say thanks for about being a good engineer. He used to revel in the statement that “I don’t play politics. I’m above that.” As a young engineer I thought that was admirable. Let your work stand for who you are and you shall be free from guilt was my motto. I watched him get fucked over and over in office politics. Every time he would bitch and complain that the system was rigged, we were not part of the “in-crowd” so we would forever be second class citizens. In my later years I realize this is just a man stomping his feet like my nine year old because the ump has a different strike zone. He was the epitome of asshole because every time he got up to bat he let the ump call that shitty low outside pitch as a strike instead of going down swinging, or maybe even hitting it.

This is the problem with the SJW’s of the world, the bluepill brigaders and the whole lot. They don’t want to believe that sometimes you have to play with the game given to you. They get high and mighty about “marriage equality” and how it’s unfair for a man to tell his wife “fuck you or fuck me” while denying that by denying a sexual partner said sex that she is effectively saying “If I can’t have sex, neither can you!” Even some of our own get high and mighty about the commitment they entered and whether it’s wrong or not to go outside the bonds of marriage for sex. Bluepillers want to complain that we are emotionally abusive and manipulating our wives and girlfriends; never mind the fact that they will all tell you that they are ‘strong independent womenz capable of doing great things’. Which is it, independent or pliable clay for brains that can be easily manipulated? The reality is there are two people in the relationship behaving badly, and someone has to move it to a better place. If you have a shitty harpy of a wife, you damn well better do everything you can to make sure you come out on top. Conversely if you have a good woman, who treats you with respect and give you the sexual intimacy you earn you should treat her accordingly also. This is the gist of praxeology frankly, it is neither right nor wrong, it’s just the game we are given.

The count is 3-2 and the pitch is coming low and outside. What are you going to do?