The Last Supper

Photos from one of Anna's last meals at W&MC's.

SAM McDOWELL  [SABR Bio] in the pros at age 17, struck out a future Hall of Famer, and a few others, in his first start in the majors. On 15-Sep-1961, McDowell struck out Harmon Killebrew plus three additional Twins (he got All-Star catcher Earl Battey two times) in 6-1/3 scoreless innings of work. Did not get a decision.  He had pitched in the minors at age 17. McDowell was so sought after as a teenager that 14 of the 16 major league teams offered him a contract. He chose Cleveland because of the impressive signing bonus of $75,000. He appeared as a guest on “To Tell the Truth” before he ever appeared in a major league game. On 16-Jun-1960 he appeared on the popular show. In his fifteen-year MLB career, he was only traded once and that was for a future Hall of Famer plus another player. On 29-November-1971, he was traded by CLE to SFG for Gaylord Perry and Frank Duffy. The very thing that drove him out of baseball led to his success afterwards. Alcohol consumption caught up with him when he was switched the bullpen. He later was a successful counselor with athletes, particularly baseball players, who also struggled with alcoholism. 

Speaking of the Indians, once Jimmy Piersall had to fight off a deranged fan.

Notes from a decision making training session I took this week.

Two types of decision makers – satisfiers and maximisers. By recognizing with style you are you can better control your decision making ability. Satisfiers prioritize an adequate approach over an optimal solution. Maximisers examine all possible outcomes in search of the best decision.

Humans have the ability to make snap decisions based on limited information. Less can be more. Instinct can be trusted and followed when making low impact decisions. This is known as expert intuition. When faced with a complex decision, slow thinking strategic intuition works best.

If you find yourself facing a difficult decision and the answer is not clear, be sure to ask for help from someone you trust.

Six thinking hats theory is good for looking at a decision from different viewpoints. Allows for emotion and skepticism. Allows for creativity. These decisions will be sounder and more resilient.  You’ll spot good reason and not follow a course of action before committing to it.

White details, focus on data

Yellow focus on benefits, use positive thinking

Green creativity

Red intuition gut feeling, intuition

Blue process control decide which hat is best

Black highlights weak points, bad points

Reflective practice – become aware of how you think and reason.

System 1 fast thinking can result in mental shortcuts can sometime skip over facts. Avoid cognitive biases, which can result in errors.

System 2 slow thinking: methodical and analytical

Ladder of inference – slow thinking rungs: data to observation to beliefs to prior experience to existing assumptions to conclusions to take actions, sometime skip facts without this. Work both up and down the ladder. Make your thinking visible to others. Ask others what they think, to test your assumptions. Explore, don’t disagree too soon. If you are challenging someone else’s conclusions, you need to be able to explain your reasoning in a way so both of you will be able to reach a shared conclusion.

Smart leaders will make counterintuitive decisions, like when Henry Ford gave his workers a higher wage to decrease turnover. Profits doubled. It’s through making decisions that we grow. Don’t be afraid of making a mistake. A mistake is not really a mistake until you make it twice. Making big decisions takes courage and foresight. Don’t give up on a decision too quickly if things aren’t going well. Sometimes persistence is needed.  The best decisions are sometimes counterintuitive.

I love reviewing to correct way to write in cursive. Not shown: the rarely used "end-t".

For the most part the top row of Green Bay's Lambeau Field was topped with luxury boxes and the press box. Didn't realize additional decks had been added on in one of the end zones. Some traditionalist Packer fans hate what the desecration has done to their shrine, but it's nothing like the monstrosity in the north end zone of Grant Field.