Ninety-three years ago today, on April 26, 1931, baseball star Lou Gehrig hit a home run with a runner on base and two outs.  His hit cleared the outfield fence, but then bounced back into the hands of the centerfielder Harry Rice.  Gehrig’s teammate who was on base, Lyn Lary, didn’t realize that Gehrig had actually hit a home run and thought the ball had been caught before going over the fence, and that Gehrig was out.  So, Lary headed back to the dugout assuming the inning was over.

Gehrig, however, trotted around the bases knowing he had hit the ball over the fence.  But his home run did not count, because baseball rules prohibit one runner from passing another on the base path—Lary returned to the dugout, and so Gehrig had technically “passed” him on the way to home plate.  Instead of two runs, the Yankees got zero.  And by the end of the 1931 season, Gehrig had 46 home runs…tied with Babe Ruth for the most in Major League Baseball.  But he would have been crowned the home run king himself with 47, if his April 26 home run had counted.

I share this story, partly because baseball stories are just great—Mr. Buller surely knows what I’m talking about.  But this one also got me wondering: Have you ever mistaken a home run for an out and headed back to the dugout too soon—not in baseball, but in life?  Have you ever taken too quick of a look at something and assumed it was a failure, when in fact, it was a great success, if you’d just taken a moment to look a little closer? 

Have a wonderful day.