Revisiting The Cause

Let us now turn to page 202 of our Royal Reds text (copyright 1977, Pressco Inc.) and read:

"Pedro Borbon shocked everyone in Riverfront Stadium (including his catcher, Johnny Bench) one day in June of 1976 when he delivered a most unusual pitch...it was kind of a combination 'slip' and 'hesitation' pitch...Borbon wound up in his normal fashion and then paused briefly before releasing a tantalizing change-up...'With Pedro, you call for a pitch and then you just hope,' Bench commented after the game."

This is indeed a powerful lesson. I have sometimes felt everyone around me could use a good shocking but was never certain how best to administer it. Now it seems so simple: wind up, hesitate, fire. From crucial new-business presentations to meeting tight deadlines to everyday conversation, this is an excellent way to keep everyone alert. So as a new season begins, I pause once more to honor this angry, self-assured genius whose very career now stands as proof that -- day in, day out -- an artist must follow his heart no matter what pitch is called for.