Domingo Germán’s Lesson – You Don’t Have to Be Perfect to Have a Perfect Moment

Even if you are not a Yankee fan, a baseball fan, or even a sports fan, you can’t help but have a good feeling over what Yankee pitcher Domingo Germán accomplished on June 28 in Oakland, pitching a perfect game against the A’s. Even Morning Joe’s Jonathan Lemire, an avid Red Sox fan, praised what Germán did, throwing 99 pitches over nine innings with no Oakland A reaching base, not even on a walk. 

In baseball history, there have only been 24 perfect games, now including Germán’s, four of those belong to the Yankees – Don Larsen (in a World’s Series, game, something that has never been repeated), David Wells, and David Cone. Now the most unlikeliest of pitchers, Germán, is on that list. 

We can find much for inspiration in our own lives from what Germán accomplished:

You don’t have to be perfect to find perfect moments in your own life. 

Before he tossed that perfect game, Germán’s career has been characterized by more downs than ups. He was suspended twice – once for domestic violence and then for violating the league’s rules against using foreign substances. His last two games, against Boston and Seattle, were hardly gems, resulting in 15 earned runs in less than six innings. What caused that turnaround? Was he inspired by the spirit of a favorite uncle who died just three days before? Did he become intent on turning around his career? Whatever the reason, for one night, Germán put all that had happened in his rear view mirror. You can do that, too, not dwelling on failures in your past, but looking forward to a better future.

Everyone needs a strong team surrounding them to succeed.

Germán couldn’t have pitched that perfect game without his team. Terrific defensive plays by Anthony Rizzo on first, Anthony Volpe at shortstop, and Josh Donaldson on third, kept the A’s off base. A bad catch or a bad throw would have destroyed Germán’s perfect game. And let’s not forget Yankee catcher Kyle Higashioka, who called that perfect game. Even if you are running your own business, you need people to support your efforts. In turn, you need to support others when they need that help.

You don’t need a big crowd to applaud your victories.

All the other Yankee perfect game pitchers reached that milestone in Yankee Stadium in front of sellout crowds. Because the A’s are doing so poorly – an anticipated move to Las Vegas has decimated the local fan base – Germán’s performance came in front of around 12,000 people, most of them Yankee fans. In addition, because the game was on the West Coast, most Yankee fans on the East Coast were asleep and didn’t learn about the perfect game until the morning. None of that mattered to Germán and it shouldn’t matter to you. Sometimes the best moves are the quiet ones made when no one is watching.

Build off your success.

It’s anyone’s guess where Germán will go from here. The baseball season is only half over and Germán still has time to record a winning season. Not all the players who pitched a perfect game were able to stay at that level. Maybe this success will be the motivation Germán needs to stay focused. What he shouldn’t do is coast, believing that lightning will strike again without putting in the hard work. That goes for you, too. Build off that success, don’t become complacent. You don’t have to be perfect, but you can find those perfect moments even if you aren’t a pitcher.

Top photo: Bigstock