Everything Important In Life I Learned From Baseball

I’ve talked about how important baseball has been in my life, but I wanted to discuss  what I’ve learned from the game of baseball, and why I think baseball is one of the few sports in life that can make you smarter as a human being (this isn’t scientifically proven, but I think it’s true).

Faith – Rally Cap

Faith is a huge part of my life. It is the reason I worked as an Associate Pastor for 6 years, and although I learned a great deal about faith in church, it was the baseball field that first taught me lessons on faith.  Being down 2 runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and having every player, and often times fans, putting on their ‘Rally Cap’ is where I first saw signs of what faith meant.  The rally cap was simply putting hope into the belief that something could happen beyond what you were normally capable of accomplishing.

People have questioned my faith, just like they have questioned why I do the rally cap, but yet time after time I can show you just how powerful faith/rally caps can be.  I know the rally cap doesn’t give a team special powers (or does it?) but I do know I learned something from it that has impacted my life.

Home Field Advantage – Where we live

A lot of people question if playing on your home field actually gives you an advantage.  I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt it does because there is just something different about stepping onto ‘your’ field.  You know how the ball rolls, where the bad bounces happen and just how much room you have before you crash into the fences. Other parks may be similar but there is something different about every park. Even the way the wind blows fly balls is important to know.

I was born and raised in Longview, WA but I’ve lived in Hannibal, MO; Aumsville, OR; and Salem, OR, and the one thing I’ve come to realize lately is that no matter how much you want to leave your hometown, it will always have a pull on your heart because you know where things are.  My hometown isn’t the nicest city in the world, and it isn’t even one of my favorite cities I’ve ever been to, but it is my home field and I know it inside and out.

Patience – Waiting for the right pitch

I’m not a patient person, but stepping up to the plate I learned really quickly that if you just swing at everything you don’t get to play very often.  So I became disciplined to wait for the pitch I knew I could do the most damage too.

Life is the same way. If we run after every opportunity we will end up being put on the bench. However, when we are smart and wait for the right opportunity we can hit a home run. With patience though also comes the understanding that you can’t wait for the walk, you have to at some point swing the bat. Patience isn’t about sitting and waiting, it is about preparing

One step at a time – One base at a time

As a man I believe it is my job to ignore written directions and to try and take as many shortcuts when building couches.  That often doesn’t turn out very good and it is why I have to remember to take things one step/instruction at a time. On the baseball field you can run across the diamond from 1^st to 3^rd all you want but when you miss 2^nd base all the other team has to do is pat you on the back with the ball and say thank you for an easy out.

Every runner must follow the directions of going to first, then second, then third and finally after the first three steps have been completed can a runner attempt for home.  There is a process to pretty much everything in life and when we fail to do things in the correct order we can cause more problems. Even though we think we are scoring we are really just making an easy out for the other team.

Teammates are the keys to success – The Importance of Family and Friends

You can say what you want but even the greatest baseball players in history needed 8 other teammates on the field helping them win. Perfect games are given to the pitcher, but the team earns it right alongside him.

The same is true in life. No one can succeed on their own. Each of us needs someone to encourage us, challenge us, or simply to be there when we need someone.  Building a strong team is an important step to success.