Nick Knacks: Composure is Key in Major League Baseball

Courtesy of Arturo Pardavila IIIOn Sept. 15, I was watching the Cubs game. They were playing the St. Louis Cardinals, the team my brother pulls for. It’s always a big deal when the two teams play each other. With playoff hopes at stake, I wasn’t missing one inning.

I’ll never forget the third inning of that game. John Lackey — one of my least favorite Cubs — was pitching to Cardinals pitcher Carlos Martinez. Lackey threw a pitch that was clearly over the plate and umpire Jordan Baker called it a ball. Lackey is known to yell at umpires when a close call doesn’t go his way, so it’s not surprising that he started screaming at Baker about the call. For the most part, he settled down to throw…