Since nothing else was on TV last night, I flipped over to the Rangers-Royals game. I only watched about 15-20 minutes, but during that stretch, I learned something intriguing. During a replay after Hank Blalock knocked in Brad Wilkerson, Rangers broadcaster Josh Lewin started talking about Don Waksamatsu’s decision-making skills. Then he dropped this nugget: According to Lewin, most third base coaches have read, or at least skimmed, Blink, Malcolm Gladwell’s excellent tome on the process of making snap judgments.
It’s an awfully New Yorker-ish book to find in a major league clubhouse, the province of what are traditionally thought to be the least brainy of all athletes. But what do I know? At any rate, it was just about the last thing I expected to be discussed during a Rangers game. Maybe second-to-last, since an in-depth look at Pete Incaviglia’s foray into quantum physics and the practical applications regarding the DH would have to take precedent.
