Playing a better team is your heat check

You’re playing a far superior team. They’re bigger than you. They’re stronger than you. They’re faster. Everything about them says that they’re better.

It’s an excuse to quit before the first pitch, or a reason not to even try. Don’t give in!

This is your moment, and I like to call it a “heat check” — your chance to find out how good you actually are.

Even the best teams make mistakes. They may underestimate you, or they may just have a bad game, and you won’t find out which unless you show up ready to play.

What’s the worst that can happen? You lose? So what? Everyone in the parking lot already expects that, which means all of the pressure is on them.

The same goes for facing an elite pitcher or an elite hitter. Don’t use his ability as an excuse to fail before he’s even had a chance to show it — see it as a challenge instead.

If you play scared and lose by 10, you learned nothing. If you play all out and lose by three, you learned exactly where you stand and what you need to work on.