Baseball: A Lesson in Civility
The world feels so contentious these days. Maybe it’s always been that way, but today tensions seem particularly high. The Left vs. Right. The Tea Party doing whatever it is it does. Main Street vs. Wall Street. Israel and Palestine. North Korea provoking South Korea. And Tony Hayward (and British Petroleum), while working to cap the well, spinning and posturing in an effort to limit corporate liability.
Given our fractured state, something remarkable happened last week: a heartfelt apology in America’s greatest pastime. For the non-sports fans out there, on Wednesday night, June 2, 2010, in Detroit, Michigan, Tiger’s pitcher, Armando Galarraga, threw the almost-perfect game against the Cleveland Indians. (In a perfect game no opposing batter reaches base. It has only been done 20 times since the modern era in baseball began in 1900.)
In what should have been the final out of a night of flawless pitching, umpire Jim Joyce, one of the best in Major League Baseball, botched a call at first base, robbing Galarraga of one of his sport’s highest achievements.
With so many firestorms raging in so many places, this story looked like more kindling. But something remarkable happened: an apology, and then ensuing acts of grace. Neither umpire nor pitcher (nor the entire Tigers organization, for that matter) spewed venom, but rather offered civility.
Joyce after watching the replay in the locker room after the game acknowledged his mistake and immediately apologized. “It was the biggest call of my career and I kicked the s— out of it. I just cost that kid a perfect game.” As Bill Geist of CBS Sunday Morning noted this past week, “He didn’t make up excuses, didn’t say the devil made him do it, didn’t announce that he was going to umpire rehab.”
Galarraga returned the favor. “He (the ump) probably felt more bad than me… nobody’s perfect.”
A genuine mea culpa. The story flies in the face of modern-day events and practice (and legal counsel to boot). Wall Street firms aren’t offering apologies. British Petroleum is mum. Even the Catholic Church is stingy when it comes to apologies. The cover story of the June 7, 2010 issue of Time is entitled, Why Being Pope Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry.
We’d all benefit by paying attention to baseball’s act of generosity. Civility breeds good will, and good will generates trust, and trustworthiness contributes to human flourishing.
This is true across the professions, including business. The story reminds me of an interview with Ken Melrose, former CEO of Toro
Melrose, with other senior leaders, committed the Company in the early 90s to a policy of alternate dispute resolution. Whenever a customer was hurt by a Toro product, including injuries sustained from their own gross negligence, the Company dispatched a team to visit the injured person, said they were sorry it happened, and then offered to satisfy the customer’s needs. The team was expected to offer empathy, but also empowered to pay medical expenses, lost work time, and even reasonable trauma costs.
In the case of Toro, civility and integrity bred trust, leading to positive outcomes for all parties involved. Cases going to court dwindled. Settlements were paid more quickly. And lifetime customer loyalty was cultivated. You can read more about the Company’s approach in the Ethix interview with Mr. Melrose.
While oil still gushes in the Gulf and livelihoods and habitats are being destroyed for years to come, I, like so many others, feel angry and frustrated. Outrage is expected, but I wonder if things might be a bit different if British Petroleum had pursued an alternative approach to dealing with its mistakes. Transparency and admission of fault feel (and often are) risky, but it is ultimately what sets the course for the rebuilding of trust and long-term healing.
Baseball has its own share of problems, but on an early June night it modeled grace and civility. I wish more of us more of the time would “play ball” this way.
John Terrill is a Boston Red Sox fan and loves to vacation on the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Fabulous column! Very well written. I appreciate your point. It’s hard to have civilization without civility.