The baseball gods don’t have a thing for you
When things go badly, it's easy to believe the baseball gods want you to lose. I never want to hear my players say that nothing will go our way.
The baseball gods have a big say in how a game goes. I’m not talking about actual gods, of course. I’m talking about luck and circumstance, the things that neither team can control.
A bad hop over the shortstop’s glove. A swinging bunt that dies in the perfect spot on the line. A weak pop-up that finds no-man’s land, or a gust of wind that pushes a foul ball fair. When it keeps happening to your team, it starts to feel personal.
When things are going badly, it seems like the baseball gods want you to lose. But they don’t have a thing for you — or against you.
The moment a player says “nothing goes our way,” he’s done for the day. He’s found an excuse that no one can argue with, and he’ll lean on it for the rest of the game. Then his teammates hear it, and they start using it too.
Over time, the bloops and bad hops should even out. If one fell in for them this inning, there’s a good chance one falls in for you later (hopefully sooner rather than later!).
What doesn’t even out on its own is how you respond while you’re waiting. Stay focused, and keep fighting.
Still have a question? Ask Coach Fungo.
“It's the law of averages. Things will, hopefully, even out.”
I wrote the long version of this when I coached the Spiders: Adversity and an Excuse to Fail on SpidersElite.
Loaf out of the box and you lose the right to argue
I can't control the umpire, and neither can you. But if you hustle on every ball, fewer of your plays will be close -- and more of the other team's will be.
“You may have beaten the throw, but you have no right to argue. You created the close call on your own.”
Process vs. results: the 5 parts of process
Most players are conditioned to care only about results. If you consistently repeat the right process, the good results won't come every time, but they're more likely to come.
“I'm not suggesting you shout 'Bad approach, you got lucky!' But at some point, the player needs to hear it.”
The Count
Call balls and strikes and watch what the count does to the hitter. Five seasons of big-league numbers.
New cards land on Instagram and Threads first. Follow along there.
Be the first to comment