Babe Ruth's Plaque in Cooperstown
Let me begin with a lot of generalizations (that one must accept to understand the point). Babe Ruth is considered to be "the greatest baseball players of all-time". He began his career as a pitcher. He spent his first ten years and won 96 games while posting a 2.28 earned run average against him. Over that ten year span, opponents managed to hit only 10 home runs when he was pitching. He then became a position player and held the all-time home run record until Henry Aaron eclipsed him. (Personal note...Barry Bonds better hitting through modern medicine's records are a sham).
So, this icon, revered by many, set marks that still amaze statisticians. There is another side to the coin. He lost 33% of the games he pitched. That's right, he failed one third of the time. Over his last five years as a pitcher, he only struck out 35 batters. He gave up more than a walk or hit every inning he pitched over his career. Anecdotally, Babe was in the bull pen one day. The starting pitcher walked the first batter he faced and argued with the umpire about the call. The starting pitcher was tossed from the game. Babe came on in relief, picked the runner off first and retired the next 26 batters in order. It was never recorded as a perfect game.
As a hitter, there are many great stories about Ruth. There was the time when he "called his shot" , pointing to the center field seats while in the batter's box. He took two strikes and deposited the third pitch beyond the center field wall. He was hitting 30,40 or 50 home runs per season when his closest competitor was in the teens. He was not just a home run hitter. His lifetime batting average was .342.
But yes, there was a dark side. He failed to reach base safely via a hit 66% of the time. He failed to put the ball in play 1,330 times because the mighty Babe struck out. That's right, Babe Ruth almost struck out twice as many times as he hit the ball over the wall.
Still, Babe Ruth is considered the greatest ball player of all time!
Today, reports are being revealed regarding all the home owners that have been approved for a loan re-modification. It appears that those using the HAMP process are more successful than those going through their lender on their own. 89% of those using HAMP have been able to continue paying their new mortgage. 78% of those going through modification directly with their lender are staying current. Roughly speaking, if you add the two together you can either determine that on average 83.5% of the folks are staying current or at worst, 67% per cent of those in this situation are staying in their home.
Wow.....67% of those that have their mortgage modified via HAMP or just through their lender are remaining current. Common sense told us that everyone could not be saved. It is heart warming to see that well over half the people that have tried, have succeeded to this point. Put this in perspective...if 100 homes were heading to foreclosure...67 will continue to be maintained. Bravo to those that are still doing their best and to those that have failed...you tried and that is much more courageous than "just walking away".
SO WHY IS THIS BEING REPORTED IS SUCH A NEGATIVE LIGHT?
All we read about are the "strategic defaults" and homes left abandoned and how people have no sense of personal responsibility. It is not true. The media seizes sensational negative spin and forces it down our throat via t.v, newspaper, talking heads and what ever else might garner them a bigger rating.
My friend Richard Iarossi recently shared "Remember the news is not always the truth." Well, Richard, from my point of view, " the truth is not always the news."
Nobody's perfect ... but 67% ain't bad
Comments(4)