I believe everyone can trace their good qualities to a handful of life lessons that helped shape their mind and body. If you look deep into your soul, something will come to mind. These life changing events and experiences are what form our opinions, work ethic, life goals, and define the essence of our being. For me, baseball taught me these life lessons over a couple decades.
One of my first memories was when I was 4 years old. I was in school and my friend and I were sent outside because we were being too loud. My friend, Matt, handed me a stick and threw a rock at me. “Hit it with the stick,” he yelled. I don’t remember if I hit it or not, but that experience was one of my first memories. I had no idea what I was doing or that it was a sport, but the challenge must have had a lasting impression. That started my love affair with the sport and I started playing baseball soon after.
I was the typical American boy playing teeball and little league starting at age 4. I don’t really remember much of baseball as a young child, but I do remember when we started pitching to ourselves instead of hitting off the tee. When I was about 12 years old I hit my first homerun (actually over the fence). I was so excited while rounding the bases that I missed touching home plate! If you haven’t hit a homerun before, there is a split second that you “blackout” and your brain can’t really recall the second or two directly after you see the ball go over the fence. I usually can’t remember anything before making the turn around 2nd base. Hitting a homerun is, to me, the pinnacle of the hitter’s success.
Once you achieve that level of success, you want more, its infectious and contagious. This was my first life lesson, being successful and achieving goals was the most gratifying feeling….and I wanted to have that feeling as much as possible.
For many years, I looked forward to being a high school baseball player because they played home and away games like a real baseball team and they practiced every day. To my surprise, I made the freshman team and started looking forward to the season ahead. In that high school all student athletes needed to maintain a 2.0 GPA and not have any failing grades. Two weeks after the season started, grades came out. I had two failing grades, English and Physical Education. Yes, you read that correctly…PE!!!!! I asked the coach if I could still practice with the team and just not play in the games because missing a full season would have been extremely detrimental to my development in the game. It was obviously not any fun to be at every practice but never get to play in any games. However, the varsity coach took notice and asked me to play in a summer league that was meant for players that were 2 years older than me. This is how I learned the lesson of delayed gratification. As I invest time and money in my present-day ventures, I look back at that experience as a formative time. There are many times in my life that required delayed gratification. If it weren’t for failing out of baseball my freshman year, I might have felt entitled to success in the game and in life.
When I was in school we had answering machines….not voicemail. I remember coming home on a random day and my dad said “there’s a message for you on the machine.” It was a college asking me to come play for his school. I called him back and a couple months later I was a college baseball player. This was amazing to me because I was never naturally talented. I had to spend more time than anyone else in the gym and in the batting cages just to compete, let alone succeed.
Throughout my high school and college years I made amazing friendships and earned place in the “Baseball Fraternity.” It’s not a real Fraternity, but an unspoken bond that baseball players have with each other. This exists between guys that KNOW the grind of playing competitively and doing whatever it takes to get to the next level.
“Getting to the next level…” has been the MOST valuable lesson I learned form baseball. I may not be the most talented, but I will NOT be outworked.
I believe I am where I am and who I am because I played the game. I look back at my competitive baseball years and truly believe the lessons learned were more valuable than any I learned in the classroom. Baseball is a passion that I cannot shake. After I hit my competitive limit, I kept playing in summer leagues. As a 37 year old man, I still learn lessons from the game!!!!
Where did you learn your life lessons?
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