They say it's three strikes and you are out but in most cases it is really just two strikes

A famous idiom from baseball is that three strikes and you are out.

I mean that is how the three strikes law got its name and inspiration from.

However in everyday life it is really two strikes and you are out from personal relationships to someone attempting to win elections.

Bob Carr was the Premier of the Australian state of New South Wales and he won office on his second try and before winning on his second try he said if at first you don't succeed give up the second time.

Second chances are rare. So rarer still are third chances.

So why do we use the idiom of three strikes when in general the second chance is really the final chance.