[This is part of a series exploring the Baseball Tarot. If you would like to prompt for a part of the game or a card from the deck, there's still plenty of space. Leave a comment with a prompt. All other comments are still welcome, of course.]
This is for![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
cosmolinguist, who we wish a happy birthday to today.
The running score for any given baseball game contains three columns - the number of runs each team has scored, the number of hits each team has, and the number of errors each team has commited. RHE is one of those things you start to not need to see the markers for to know, at a glance, how the game has gone for each team. Unsurprisingly, number of hits doesn't always correspond with the number of runs, but if there's a positive value in the E column, there's almost a guarantee that a run or a big run threat came from that.
Baseball is a game where there are errors all over the place. A hitter that swings at a pitch that turns out not to be a strike, or takes one that does (assuming they haven't received signs that say to take the next pitch and not swing) generally commits an error of judgment. Which makes another strike, or sometimes, an out. Pitchers can commit errors, too - sometimes a pitcher isn't able to execute the requested pitch, or they balk. Pitcher errors can be damaging - a hanging curveball or other breaking ball that's left in a hittable place can be tagged for home runs and hits - a bad pitch can make a four-run defecit in the worst case scenario. Those don't get qualified as errors, though - they're hits and runs, even if it was a mistake that produced them.
Generally, though, things that are officially scored as errors are fielding errors. The kinds of things that happen when a ground ball gets booted instead of gloved, or a ball goes right between the legs of the fielder, right underneath the glove they thought they had down on the ground. Or wild throws that go well past the fielder they were intended for into somewhere else, and the bases that result from those throws. Errors are a thing in baseball, and their commission can change the tenor and the momentum of any game, giving the offense free batters that they wouldn't otherwise have, and runs they wouldn't otherwise be able to collect. In some cases, games are won, including World Series games, when a defensive error occurs at the worst possible time.
The statistics, at least, are kinder - runs that cross the plate because of an error that would have otherwise finished a half-inning are considered unearned and do not count toward a pitcher's ERA (Earned Run Average). They will affect the fielding percentage of the player that committed the error, lowering it usually a few fractions of a point - the opportunities accorded to fielders to make plays are great, and so in the end, an error here and there doesn't affect their percentages all that much.
Being able to take a long view toward errors is essential to being able to continue playing. Dwelling on a single thing after it happens can pull mental focus and lead to other errors. This is much more prevalent in Little League, because the experience of life hasn't yet hardened the players against the effects of errors. Mistakes are much more important when you're younger, or when they're related to things like work or schooling. And young children being who they are, it can be easy for their teammates to continue to harp on their mistake (until something great happens and they've forgotten it) instead of being supportive to their teammate and helping them get beyond it. (It is often up to Coach to re-orient the team and help the player forget about the past and focus on the next at-bat.)
That said, for each error, there are consequences. Being able to accept them, deal with them, learn what is needed, and then moe on makes you valuable to a lot of people, and means you can see the opportunity that often follows from a mistake.
If the error shows up in your reading, it means there are mistakes being made. Often mistakes that come from a lack of mental focus. Figuring out whether you're the one making the errors or having to deal with them is not always easy, regrettably, until the consequences of the error show up. You might be able to get help from someone you trust to take an outside perspective on things. If it's you who is making errors, then re-focus, fix what you can, and be willing to deal with the consequences of those mistakes. The next at-bat might have the opportunity to fix the error and put your team back in a good position - you can still double-up someone on first with the next ground ball, even if you punted the first one that put them on. Dwelling too much on the past will make it harder for you to engage with the future. Some errors might repeat themselves - those are generally trying to tell you that their is an important thing in your life to learn from these mistakes. Pay attention!
If you have someone in your life who insists on rehashing your old mistakes and holding them over you, then the error card may be pointing out that your error of judgment is keeping that weight in your life. If you can't ditch them, because they're your boss, consider a career change. Or reporting them to HR or their supervisors once you have the documentation you'll need to prove their error. Nobody should be forced to suffer punishment for mistakes long in the past.
If you're the person that will have to deal with someone else's errors, recall that "to err is human, to forgive, divine" is a saying that has lasted for some time. Everyone makes mistakes, and yes, they might have big consequences associated with them, but hopefully you have failsafes in place so that mistakes don't have domino effects. Making mistakes is one of the best ways that people learn, so not only be willing to forgive them for their mistakes, try to make sure that the environment you are in encourages people to take risks - there will be more mistakes, sure, but there will also be spectacular successes that can more than make up for the mistakes that get made to learn in the process. Talk to the people when they make mistakes, and gauge what they're learning from it and how they plan to go forward by listening to them. Don't just file things away and then spring past mistakes on someone with a disciplinary notice. You might find out that you're making mistakes from untrue assumptions, or that you're scaring the absolute shit out of someone without offering them any way of knowing how they can avoid further seeming caprice from you. Finally, grudges are a pain in the ass for everyone, whether you're holding them or receiving them. Let it go. Really. Learn, figure out what you can trust, protect yourself as necessary, but let the grudges go.
It's easier to learn and forget mistakes in baseball or other games and pursuits, because the worst thing that can happen is that you lose the game and can try again later. In life, it's a little bit harder, but life consequences hopefully mean you only make certain mistakes once...or can learn from other people's errors in life so as not to make them in the first place.
This is for
cosmolinguist, who we wish a happy birthday to today.The running score for any given baseball game contains three columns - the number of runs each team has scored, the number of hits each team has, and the number of errors each team has commited. RHE is one of those things you start to not need to see the markers for to know, at a glance, how the game has gone for each team. Unsurprisingly, number of hits doesn't always correspond with the number of runs, but if there's a positive value in the E column, there's almost a guarantee that a run or a big run threat came from that.
Baseball is a game where there are errors all over the place. A hitter that swings at a pitch that turns out not to be a strike, or takes one that does (assuming they haven't received signs that say to take the next pitch and not swing) generally commits an error of judgment. Which makes another strike, or sometimes, an out. Pitchers can commit errors, too - sometimes a pitcher isn't able to execute the requested pitch, or they balk. Pitcher errors can be damaging - a hanging curveball or other breaking ball that's left in a hittable place can be tagged for home runs and hits - a bad pitch can make a four-run defecit in the worst case scenario. Those don't get qualified as errors, though - they're hits and runs, even if it was a mistake that produced them.
Generally, though, things that are officially scored as errors are fielding errors. The kinds of things that happen when a ground ball gets booted instead of gloved, or a ball goes right between the legs of the fielder, right underneath the glove they thought they had down on the ground. Or wild throws that go well past the fielder they were intended for into somewhere else, and the bases that result from those throws. Errors are a thing in baseball, and their commission can change the tenor and the momentum of any game, giving the offense free batters that they wouldn't otherwise have, and runs they wouldn't otherwise be able to collect. In some cases, games are won, including World Series games, when a defensive error occurs at the worst possible time.
The statistics, at least, are kinder - runs that cross the plate because of an error that would have otherwise finished a half-inning are considered unearned and do not count toward a pitcher's ERA (Earned Run Average). They will affect the fielding percentage of the player that committed the error, lowering it usually a few fractions of a point - the opportunities accorded to fielders to make plays are great, and so in the end, an error here and there doesn't affect their percentages all that much.
Being able to take a long view toward errors is essential to being able to continue playing. Dwelling on a single thing after it happens can pull mental focus and lead to other errors. This is much more prevalent in Little League, because the experience of life hasn't yet hardened the players against the effects of errors. Mistakes are much more important when you're younger, or when they're related to things like work or schooling. And young children being who they are, it can be easy for their teammates to continue to harp on their mistake (until something great happens and they've forgotten it) instead of being supportive to their teammate and helping them get beyond it. (It is often up to Coach to re-orient the team and help the player forget about the past and focus on the next at-bat.)
That said, for each error, there are consequences. Being able to accept them, deal with them, learn what is needed, and then moe on makes you valuable to a lot of people, and means you can see the opportunity that often follows from a mistake.
If the error shows up in your reading, it means there are mistakes being made. Often mistakes that come from a lack of mental focus. Figuring out whether you're the one making the errors or having to deal with them is not always easy, regrettably, until the consequences of the error show up. You might be able to get help from someone you trust to take an outside perspective on things. If it's you who is making errors, then re-focus, fix what you can, and be willing to deal with the consequences of those mistakes. The next at-bat might have the opportunity to fix the error and put your team back in a good position - you can still double-up someone on first with the next ground ball, even if you punted the first one that put them on. Dwelling too much on the past will make it harder for you to engage with the future. Some errors might repeat themselves - those are generally trying to tell you that their is an important thing in your life to learn from these mistakes. Pay attention!
If you have someone in your life who insists on rehashing your old mistakes and holding them over you, then the error card may be pointing out that your error of judgment is keeping that weight in your life. If you can't ditch them, because they're your boss, consider a career change. Or reporting them to HR or their supervisors once you have the documentation you'll need to prove their error. Nobody should be forced to suffer punishment for mistakes long in the past.
If you're the person that will have to deal with someone else's errors, recall that "to err is human, to forgive, divine" is a saying that has lasted for some time. Everyone makes mistakes, and yes, they might have big consequences associated with them, but hopefully you have failsafes in place so that mistakes don't have domino effects. Making mistakes is one of the best ways that people learn, so not only be willing to forgive them for their mistakes, try to make sure that the environment you are in encourages people to take risks - there will be more mistakes, sure, but there will also be spectacular successes that can more than make up for the mistakes that get made to learn in the process. Talk to the people when they make mistakes, and gauge what they're learning from it and how they plan to go forward by listening to them. Don't just file things away and then spring past mistakes on someone with a disciplinary notice. You might find out that you're making mistakes from untrue assumptions, or that you're scaring the absolute shit out of someone without offering them any way of knowing how they can avoid further seeming caprice from you. Finally, grudges are a pain in the ass for everyone, whether you're holding them or receiving them. Let it go. Really. Learn, figure out what you can trust, protect yourself as necessary, but let the grudges go.
It's easier to learn and forget mistakes in baseball or other games and pursuits, because the worst thing that can happen is that you lose the game and can try again later. In life, it's a little bit harder, but life consequences hopefully mean you only make certain mistakes once...or can learn from other people's errors in life so as not to make them in the first place.
