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Unless you’re a die-hard baseball fan — or deeply care about the Boston Red Sox — the name Doug Mirabelli probably doesn’t mean much to you.

Mirabelli was best known as the personal catcher for Tim Wakefield, a Red Sox pitcher who threw a knuckleball. Most major league pitchers are capable of throwing multiple pitches at high speeds, often north of 90 miles per hour. Wakefield threw his pitches at about 60 miles per hour, but he made it in the majors because his knuckleballs were famous for moving in unexpected directions. Even Wakefield didn’t really know where the ball was going. (He struck out more than 2,000 batters in his career, but is also 7th all-time in hit batsmen.) That meant that the Red Sox needed a catcher who was capable of catching Wakefield’s fluttery pitches:

Enter Mirabelli.

He wasn’t an exceptional baseball player in any way. His career batting average — .231 — is below what a normal major leaguer would hit. In 12 seasons, only once did he hit more than 10 home runs. His OPS+ — a way to compare hitters to one another — was 87, a full 13 points below league average.

But Mirabelli was exceptional at catching Wakefield’s knuckleball. He was so good that Boston once traded him away to San Diego, then realized months later that they’d made a mistake and traded back for him. The Red Sox famously even arranged for a police escort to make sure he made it to the ballpark to catch that night’s game vs. the Yankees.

I hadn’t thought about Mirabelli in well over a decade until this song popped up on YouTube — a cover of a Gillian Welch tune, allegedly inspired by Mirabelli, called “Knuckleball Catcher.”

Welch sings:

Now a bricklayer can be an all-time player, too

But a knuckleball catcher only gets one job to do

Some days, we all feel a little like knuckleball catchers. We work hard, but start to become specialists in the things we do. We start to wonder: Is this all people think I can do? Does anyone realize there’s a lot more I’m capable of?

It’s why we all have to continue to push ourselves out of our comfort zones. Side projects can be great ways to prove what else you can do. Keep learning, keep asking questions, keep trying new things. You’re more than a knuckleball catcher — you’ve got plenty of room to grow.

This is the week between the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, so I’ve spent much of the week thinking about the year just passed, and the year ahead of us. There’s lots I want to do in the year ahead, and lots that I know I could do better.

So I sat down to write a post on that idea — that there’s always the chance to do a little better — and thought, “Haven’t I said this before on the blog?”

In fact, I have.

In May of this year, in a blog post about making pizza.

In November 2016, in a post about learning to slow down and ask questions.

In September 2015, in a post about the Jewish holidays and doing better in the new year.

In May 2014, in a blog post with literally the same name as this one.

In April 2012, in a story about Bruce Springsteen.

We can all do better in the new year. But when it comes to this particular blog post, I’ve said it a handful of times already. I don’t think I need to do better on this topic — I think I’ve already said enough!

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That photo is of the Centre Pompidou in Paris. It was taken by Curtis MacNewton for Unsplash.

Every job comes with pressure.

When you’re working for a big corporation, that pressure often comes in the form of frustration. You’re frustrated that your company isn’t working on the things you want them to. You’re frustrated by the pace of work. You’re frustrated with the way the company is structured, by the pay, by your colleagues or bosses. Big corporate jobs are frustrating for all sorts of reasons, but they usually stem back to one thing: The lack of control you have over the work you do and the people you do it with.

When you’re working for yourself or a startup, the pressure comes in the form of stress. You’re working on the things you want to work on, but you’re stressed about doing the work well. You’re stressed about keeping things moving forward — are we still going to be able to do this work in six months? In a year? You’re stressed about money, about bringing the next client in or making the next sale. You’re stressed because there are no guarantees, no roadmap forward except the one you make — and you’re never quite sure that the path you’re on is the right one.

Every job comes with pressure. The question is: Which type of pressure will you choose?

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That photo of employees working in an office building comes via Chuttersnap, a photographer who published their work on Unsplash.