Finesse Trumps Power Every Time: What I Learned from Greg Maddux and a Dinner Roll
It happened 25 years ago. I was seated next to Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg Maddux at a luncheon for players and fans prior to Opening Day. No one wanted to be there less than “Mad Dog” Maddux.
There was a deafening silence at the table. Maddux was disengaged, looking down at his plate, obviously thinking. He was focused on being the Opening Day pitcher against the Rockies the next day. What happened next was a lesson for everyone, not just baseball lovers.
To break the silence and overcome the awkwardness, I grabbed a dinner roll from the basket and asked, “Greg, how do you hold your two-seam fastball/sinker (his signature pitch)?” He smiled, grabbed the roll, and held it like a baseball to answer the question. So, I asked more, “What about your changeup, cutter, four-seamer and curveball?”
He was amused, became animated, and seemed to enjoy the discussion. As he told the stories, he added color. That color can be applied to how we think and act in the real world.
1. Life (and work) is not about speed.
No one could paint the corners of the strike zone better than Greg Maddux. He paralyzed batters not with power, but with finesse. Almost all his pitches started toward the plate the same way and arrived differently, while he almost always pitched under 90 mph. He dominated hitters by changing speeds, location and movement, and making them guess wrong. In your work, choose quality over quantity and precision over speed.
Be confident knowing good is good enough, and that being good consistently leads to greatness. Paint the corners. Zig when others expect you to zag at times, offering multiple perspectives, and an open mind.
2. Never stop sharpening your skills.
Maddux won four straight Cy Young awards for pitching excellence and was elected to the All-Star Team eight times. But he also won eighteen Gold Glove awards, recognizing his defensive skills. He was the second most productive hitter on the pitching staff, hitting .171 with 272 hits, 5 home runs and 84 RBIs in his career. He was in the top five hitters among pitchers in that era. Not bad for a guy who pitched for 355 wins.
He was a natural pitcher who always worked hard to be better, but he worked on his fielding and hitting all the time. Are you growing? Are you working on the skills and behaviors that don’t come naturally to you to help make your team better by every element of your presence?
3. Lighten up.
I handed a dinner roll to a future first-ballot hall-of-famer to lighten the mood and try a different approach to conversation. We laughed and enjoyed the rest of our time together. But I often took myself too seriously and now wonder how many opportunities I missed to score a victory just by being lighter, less serious, less afraid of embarrassment and/or too proud to be vulnerable. Enjoy your path around the bases as you run them!
4. Focus on your health and efficiency.
Maddux famously pitched a complete game in 1997, throwing only 78 pitches (64 of which were strikes, with no walks). He spent 23 years in the big leagues and in that time, spent only 15 days on the disabled list. He had 17 seasons with at least 15 wins. Stay healthy. Choose finesse over power. Value working smarter over working harder.
5. Earn your nicknames.
Besides Mad Dog (it was rare to see him smile or lose focus), he had another nickname he wore as a badge of courage. They called him The Professor. He studied hitters relentlessly. He knew what they wanted and expected, and he knew what to throw based on their history. Always be a student of the game (or business), favoring self-improvement over tradition. Never settle on what worked for you yesterday. Never stop growing or learning.
The Professor got better with age by adapting to a world that was changing around him.
Will you?
