The Perfect Game and the Perfect Day

Last Thursday, Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle achieved the ultimate experience as a pitcher. He fired a perfect game! This means that no runner reached base, for any reason. No hits, no walks, no errors, no runners.


The pitcher gets credit for the perfect game. It is assumed that the pitcher has such complete mastery of their opponent that no one has a chance to reach base. The reality is that it takes the whole team to win and make the perfect game happen. First, the offense has to score runs. Second, the pitcher has to make good pitches and not walk anyone. Third, the catcher has to make the right pitch call to feed the confidence of the pitcher. Finally, the fielders can't make an error and probably need to make a great play sometime during the game. Mark Buehrle was the recipient of such a play last week. DeWayne Wise was brought into the game in the ninth inning as a a defensive replacement in center field. The first batter, Gabe Kapler of the Tampa Bay Rays, hit a long drive to deep center field. He sprinted back to the wall jumped and robbed Kapler of a home run. It was an incredible play! Finally, it takes a little bit of luck to throw the complete game. Pat Burrell hit a ball earlier in the game that was inches foul and would have been a double. You might say Buehrle had the perfect day!


How do you create a perfect day for yourself? Can you do it alone? Just as the pitcher is the focal point of the perfect game, you need to be the center of your perfect day. First and foremost, you must decide how you want to spend your day. Most people allow days to just happen. Think of the power you'll have if you define your day and decide what you want and need to do. You create your "must do" and "should do" list for yourself based on your priorities. Can you achieve your perfect day on your own? Of course not! You need to decide who to delegate to, identify your priorities, where others fit in your life, and who you are dependent on. In other words, what do you need from your team? Just as Mark Buehrle depended on his team to score runs, make plays, and be spectacular when needed-you need to create the same dependencies.

Mark Buehrle may never pitch another perfect game (though he went 5 2/3 innings on Tuesday night without a batter reaching base), but he will try every time he goes to the mound. Will you try to have a perfect day every day? Try it and see, you'll be amazed at what you'll accomplish.