I’m not a big baseball fan, but I was when I was a child. I remember this one amazing game. My family and I stayed up late watching this game and I remember it couldn’t have ended any better for me. It was just perfect for our hometown Toronto Blue Jays.
In 1993 the Toronto Blue Jays were in the World Series trying to become back-to-back champions. They were playing against the Philadelphia Phillies. It was the 6th game of the series with the Blue Jays leading the series 3-2.
They were playing in Toronto. It was a close game. It was the bottom of the 9th inning and the Phillies were up 6-5, looking to tie the series and force a 7th game. Ricky Henderson and Paul Molitor got on base with one out, when Joe Carter comes to the plate. The count is 2 balls, 2 strikes and Joe Carter swings at the pitch and hits a home run to win the World Series!
I remember watching that game on tv as a kid feeling like it was so unbelievable that that happened. Joe Carter said “Ninety-nine times out of a hundred I hook that pitch way foul.” But that one time he hit a home run.
In 2019 my brother and I sold our business, Solo Stove. It took a lot of many things to get us there. When you sell a business it’s not nearly as climactic as hitting a home run to win the World Series, but it can feel like the same blessed outcome. I hit a home run when we sold that business because it gave me ultimate freedom. 99 times out of 100 you don’t hit that type of “home run”. For some reason, I did. Why did it happen to me? I have thought about that question a lot. I don’t yet have an answer to it, however I am extremely grateful for it and take the responsibilities that come with it seriously. Am I deserving of it? Probably not, but try my best to be a good steward of the benefits I’ve gain from it. Life’s full of surprises. Sometimes you have to look back on them and realize just how unbelievable they were.
Gradual Ascent 