Last night Randy Johnson won his 300th game in MLB. Johnson has long credited some advice from Nolan Ryan the and then Texas Rangers pitching coach Tom House with changing his delivery and taking him from a fast but wild pitcher to a fast pitcher with excellent control. After this meeting, he went on to win 5 Cy Young awards and become one of the great pitchers of all time.
I found an old video clip of this session with Johnson getting these pitching lessons. It is amazing on several fronts. One, that someone was there to record it. This was 1992 in the pre-YouTube/pre-cameras everywhere days. Two, Ryan and House worked for the Rangers but Johnson pitched for the Seattle Mariners. Still, they saw someone who could use some help even though they were on opposing sides. Three, Johnson was willing to listen and make changes. Lots of good advice out there, but people often choose to ignore it out of pride or other poor motives.
While the subject matter (i.e. baseball) is not a critical issue in our lives, the spirit and attitude displayed by Ryan, House and Johnson are ones we should have in our lives. We need to look to help others, even if their gain could hinder some of our potential material pursuits. Also, we need to be of humble hearts to take advice and instruction.
Your right, "...it is impossible for anyone to begin to learn that which he thinks he already knows." Epictetus [Discourses, bk.II, ch. 17]
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