The most IMPORTANT day of my career:
April 23rd, 2003
The game gave me many special memorable moments but looking back there’s one day, one event that changed it all for me. I didn’t know it at the time but this day would be the beginning of the best phase of my athletic career.
Our first child was born. A little baby boy came into our life. Watching his birth is one of the, if not the, most amazing things I’ve ever witnessed.
From that day forward my life had a different meaning. I had a bigger, stronger and more important purpose. I wasn’t just a baseball player any longer. This little tiny person forced me to grow up off the field which carried over onto the field.
Identity is something many ball players have to fight. Many see themselves (as I did) as just a baseball player and it becomes who they are. If things are good with their game, life is good. If their game isn’t positive at the moment, neither is their life. I remember carrying around the emotions from my performance into life off the field. I was chatty if things went well that day but quiet and somber if they didn’t.
As a new father I quickly realized that when I went home after the game, whatever happened at the field that day didn’t matter. My wife and child needed me. A father and husband, not some emotional roller coaster. I learned real quick what it meant to “leave it at the field.”
Coincidence, possibly, but I now see a level of maturity that hit me that year. I was 25, in my 7th full season, in a new organization for the first time and in front of a new coach who helped me learn how to use my stuff. I really believe the timing of everything above combined with a new purpose in life (and a new identity) was the defining moment in my career.
As a coach now, I see it in these kids. Their whole demeanor fluctuates depending on how their workout, their last rep, their last at bat, their last inning, or how their last game went. They carry it with them. We want athletes who strive for greatness (so important in life) but who also are mentally stable and able to stay clear minded when things aren’t going well. It’s a process (I didn’t figure it out until my mid 20’s) but one of our missions as the adults in their life should be to help them get to this place (hopefully sooner than later). Help them learn how to process failure. Help them learn how to be a strong competitor.
Let’s also help them realize and learn they aren’t just a baseball player (athlete), that who they are as a person, friend, child, student, and future adult is just as important, if not more. And let’s teach and show them how they can use our great game to help become that type of person.
Founder of Baseball Dudes. Blessed with three beautiful children and an amazing wife. Baseball is my life, after my family, and I love sharing what I have learned from it. Thanks for taking the time to view what we offer here at Baseball Dudes.
