My son, Luca, plays in his community recreational baseball program. I can see that hockey is his favorite sport and the #1 sport in his heart. But he has also grown to love all sports as a young boy. Baseball in particular has become something dear to him in the spring season. I think a lot of his appreciation for the game comes from him recognizing his improvement in each of the required skills – catching, throwing, hitting, base running, supporting your team mates, listening to your coaches, and learning all of the rules. He has truly progressed in his skills over the last 4 years, and now he is thinking about trying out for the travel tournament baseball team in his community for next year.
Last year was his first time playing kid pitch. I feel this is a big step in baseball development going from an adult coach pitching to you (potentially more accurately and with less intention of striking you out), to having another kid your age pitching balls to you. A few games into his last spring season (when he was 9 years old), the coach quietly told him he is going to pitch the next inning. Now mind you, he had never pitched before.
Did it go perfectly? No, he admittedly still had some work to do. But I admire his tremendous poise and courage under pressure. He looked the part. He kept his composure. He did not quit or back down.
Afterward, I complimented him on his grace under pressure and asked if he ever thought of saying “no.” His explanation was that the coach said to him “You are pitching” and he took that as his default course of action. He never saw it as a choice to do or not do what the coach told him to do. I love that. He was asked a few other times to pitch later in the season, and he got better each time.
He is still a young boy, currently age 10, and this is a learning process. But I see how much he loves the game. And I love seeing how much he improves as the seasons go on. I think the best part of baseball is that it gets him outside of his comfort zone. It also shows him he can learn how to do hard things. It is not always going to go perfectly, and that is okay.
I hope in life going forward, he can see how much it matters more to show up, to stick with it, to be professional, to look and play the part even if you are new and not totally comfortable with the role, and to have the right attitude. Mastery of anything in life does not come easy. And to be frank, most of us will never be perfect or the best at what we love to do or need to do. But I think it is the act of going through the motions and putting on a brave face in the face of adversity – this is truly what teaches us strength, and gives all of us a leg up in life.
Success comes with consistency. Sometimes showing up is the best way to improve slowly, one small step at a time. No one is perfect the very first time doing something. Improvement does not come all at once. It is impractical to expect perfection the first few times trying something. I hope he remembers his times playing baseball, and remembers the struggles of doing something new, especially the first few attempts at a new skill. And I hope he builds memories around the joy of making the great play after a lot of hard work. Others do not see the hours of hard work that go into getting better. But this is what it takes to become good at something. I hope he approaches all challenges in life with poise and professionalism. Life is hard, and discomfort is an inescapable part of life. I hope he keeps leaning into that discomfort and keeps putting in the work. And I hope he knows how proud I am of him each and every day.
