The End of Driving at “10 and 2”

How do you feel about showboating? You know, putting a little extra flair on your work. Back in May, the Tampa Bay Rays shortstop did something that ruffled a few feathers in Major League Baseball doing just that.

On a routine ground ball, Wander Franco fielded then stylistically flipped the ball to himself before throwing out the hitter at first base. Folks were up in arms because of all the reasons people don’t like showboating. At best, it needlessly risks error. At worst, it’s just disrespectful.

If we leave respect out of the conversation, we can drill into the risk of error issue deeply and I find that interesting. One way to look at the infield play above is that it’s careless. What most complainers of this behavior want to happen is for Franco to drive “ten and two.” It’s an outcry for the fundamentals. 

When’s the last time you drove with your hands at ten and two a clock like the fundamentals you were taught?

You don’t. I don’t. And, frankly, I’m not sure who does!

The way we justify this is mastery over driving “ten and two.” This is precisely how Franco justifies that ball toss, too, and I don’t blame him. The risk part of this is justified only through mastery and, in my opinion, it’s only shameful if the practitioner hasn’t earned the right to drive with his or her hands out of ten and two, so to speak. 

After all, when Travis Barker twirls his drumstick in the air mid song and doesn’t miss a beat, I gasp in awe. When an amateur drummer attempts this at a talent show and ruins the song, I find it silly. In this is a call to mastery. Are you on a journey to mastery in something worth not doing at “ten and two?”