It’s a 90-degree day at the ballpark. Vendors are slingin’ hot dogs and nachos, and the crowd sings rally cries in unison. Announcer says, “Up to the plate, Troy Percival.” He’s been working on his hitting for the past few weeks. He’s working specifically on reading the pitcher; looking for that slight twitch of the finger, the slight glance of the eye.
“Play ball!” the ump yells.
The pitcher tenses. Troy crouches, clutching the bat.
*WUMP!*
Without a second’s warning, the ball flies past him.
“STRRRRIKE!”
Percival, now head coach for the Idaho Chukars, would go on to win a World Series. But when he first got his start in professional baseball, they “found out I couldn’t hit,” he said.
It was during his 1990 season playing for the Boise Hawks; the coaches noticed his return throws to the mound were faster than the pitches he caught. He was switched from catcher to pitcher and made his Major League debut as a reliever for the California Angels.
Over the next 14 years, he became a four-time All-Star with a 29-38 record and a 2.99 ERA in 586.2 innings for the Angels. In the 2002 World Series against the San Francisco Giants, he secured the final out and the Angels’ first World Series title.
Throughout his career, he made “constant adjustments,” he said.
“I literally tried anything that my coaches told me to do,” he said. “I think that’s part of why I got better as fast as I did, going from catcher to pitcher.”
The Power of Adjusting Behavior
In the game of baseball, teams always look for a competitive edge. Whether it’s players stepping over the chalk line, flipping their hats inside out for rally caps, or ignoring a pitcher who’s throwing a… (nevermind, if you know you know) — there’s no shortage of quirks and superstitions around a baseball diamond.
Even fans get in on the action, wearing lucky jerseys or sitting in the same spot every game. It might seem silly, but in a sport where momentum matters, these little rituals feel like part of the game plan.
Of course, the crux of the competition comes down to player performance. As a coach, Percival continuously seeks more practical ways to help improve his players’ performance.
“One guy may need to drop his hands, another guy you may need to move his hands back,” Percival said.
For instance, he shared, they had a player who was “a little jumpy.” They adjusted him to a wider stance and saw his hitting improve. Another player was throwing 93mph on the mound. With a tweak to lengthen his arm action, by the end of the year, he was topping out around 97mph.
“He drastically improved his game,” Percival said.
When we asked, “If you could make a simple change to increase your pitching performance by 50%, would you do it?”
Percival laughed out loud.
“I’d go back to the Big Leagues right now!” he said. “I do anything I can to get better.”
If there were a simple change you could make to increase your odds of survival by 50%, would you do it?
What it Looks Like to “Win” at Driving
So, what does baseball have to do with driving?
Performance mindset.
In the baseball field, “success” looks like winning the game.
On the road, “success” looks like arriving safely at your destination.
In this sense, Percival’s mindset towards constant improvement—the same mindset that might make a fan wear their lucky socks to a game—is the same one we should have on the road. The goal is to make it home safe, and we should do everything we can to achieve that.
One of the most significant ways we can increase our chance of successfully making it home safe is a simple action: Wear your seatbelt.
The proof is staggering. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that seat belts are 50% effective in preventing fatalities and serious injuries.
By this estimate, 75 lives were saved in 2023 by seat belt usage in Idaho alone. An additional 43 lives—half of those killed and unbelted—could have been saved if everyone had buckled up.
Every time you get in the car to drive somewhere, you’re stepping up to the plate. Your goal is to make it home. To do so, you’ll need to take advantage of every strategy. With seatbelts giving you a 50% advantage at success (aka arriving safely at your destination)— it’s a no-brainer. Buckle up, duh.
Wearing a seat belts improves your survival rate in a crash by 50%. #BuckleUpDuh
“Winning” at Driving Starts with Wearing Your Seatbelt
The baseball field has often been considered a metaphor for life: a series of innings, with unpredictable outcomes. You can’t control everything, but you can control some things. You can control your performance by training and listening well to coaching. You can control how you respond to other players by working together and leaning on each other’s strengths.
In life, one of the things you can control is your level of safety on the road.
You can’t control if someone hits you. You can’t control other drivers. But you can be a good driver by driving engaged. You can wear a seatbelt whenever you get in a car, and increase your chance of survival by 50%.
For those who do not wear a seatbelt, or find yourself forgetting to buckle up, ask yourself this:
