Failing to Succeed

Why Baseball teaches us more in life that how to play a game. Knowing that failure is a big part of succeeding in the game is actually relatable to how we live life!

You've probably heard it before in your career that Baseball is a game of "failure". But what do we really mean by a game of failure? Why is failure emphasized and people are ok with it? Last time I checked, if I failed something in class, my parents would be upset. So why is failure ok in the game of Baseball compared to other sports??? Well, check this out.... in Basketball, if a guy is shooting below 50% at the free throw line, you'll probably be more likely to foul him late in games especially when it's close because you're rolling the dice about them not making the shot. In football, if the quarterback has a below passing completion percentage as well as higher interception rate, they probably won't play much in the NFL. But in Baseball, if you get 3-4 hits out of 10 at-bats the you're a stud at the plate and if that keeps up in your career then you could be considered a hall of fame candidate. In the game of Baseball, you are suppose to hit a round object (ball) with another round object (bat) in hops of sending it in play. In Physics, while it's not impossible, it's pretty damn close.

However, hitters focus on the batting average so much that anytime they don't get a hit, bats and helmets are thrown or slammed, F-Bombs are thrown out and we pout like babies. But, what we don't realize as players is that we can change the game at any point whether it's at the plate or out in the field. If you're 0-3 but have the chance to have the game winning hit, do you think people will care about your past at-bats if you're the hero? That's a HELL NO! Or what about you making the game winning diving catch or throwing the tying run out at home to end the game? Absolutely not! When you start thinking about your batting average or your stats, you run into being negative and caring about yourself. In other words, you become an "I" guy who doesn't care about the team. One thing I heard my college coach talk about is that when things aren't going your way, be a servant to other guys. Even if you don't catch, go catch a bullpen to help a guy out. Go throw batting practice or hit fungos, hell, go help someone with their weakness if they're frustrated. But, don't be a suck up or forget about working on your skills as well!

BE A SERVANT TO YOUR TEAMMATES!!

Many players try to be perfect in the game and I'll be honest, there will never be a perfect player. Go ahead and look up the stat line for all of the hall of fame players who are enshrined for eternity because they are labeled as the best of the best! Even during their career, they committed errors, gave up losses on the mound, and hit below .400. So how does Baseball and the failures we endure help us with our lives? Easy, it deals with how we react. We in life are hit with failures whether it's loss of job or rejection of job, failing a test in school, or as big as losing a loved one. When these things happen, it's how we react that will make us better. Now, losing a loved one is pretty devastating and I'm not saying making a mistake in Baseball is just like losing a loved one. What I'm saying is that we are hit with obstacles that we must fight to overcome. In Baseball, we will strike out to lose a game or make an error that costs a run, hell we can even go 0-4 in a game with 4 strikeouts. How we react makes a difference with how our success will come to fruition. I can easily give up and blame others for the failures by saying "my boss is a jerk", "I hated my coworkers, anyway", or even "my coach doesn't know what he's talking about". Those who succeed in life are the ones who didn't give up. Jose Altuve is a prime example as he didn't know what the word "no" means as he kept fighting and fighting for a chance. Now, he's a World Series champion! Having first hand of dealing with failures in the game, I learn that those failures are nothing compared to the failures we are dealt with in life. However, how we react in games and learn from them correlates to how we react to the road blocks that hit us in life. My advice to young players: Go play and enjoy the game! It's not a job, but if you can work on managing your emotions and reactions to work through failures in game, it will translate to your life when you're dealt with failure!