The Eternal Shortstop

I still remember how that fear felt. I would pray that my name wouldn't get called but I always knew it would since I was one of the few middle infielders on the team. Of all the drills that Coach Haubner put on us this one was by far the worst. I'd much rather run for two hours (which we did in single file line) or run liners on a basketball court. Those of you that have ever had the pleasure of playing baseball on an all-dirt infield know that it is not the friendliest of surfaces for a ball to roll against. So enter the spiderweb drill. Four batter would stand next to each other at home plate and criss cross the groundballs they would hit. I would be at shortstop and Shawn Olsen would be at home plate. I can still hear the sound of the all aluminum bat with no grip on it. Shawn would always be an ass to us and hit the ball as hard as he could on the ground. The ball would ping off the bat and then time slowed down. I remember seeing the ball hit the ground and then focusing in on one bounce and then two bounces.....

Did I stop the ball? I guess that's not the story I want to tell. You see when you're playing infield in baseball you have a couple options. You can sit back on your heels. When the ball jumps off the bat you are at the mercy of the ball. The ball bounces and you're one step behind. You try to overcompensate, which in turn makes you lose sight of the ball or pick the wrong hop to attack. You might glove the ball but chances are you're going to pull up too early or get hit by the ball. Your second choice is to play on your toes and creep towards the batter. As the ball hits the ground you are now in a position to actually choose the bounce you want to attack. The last option is ideal. Not only playing on your toes but going through all possible scenarios in your head. Where are the runners? If the ball comes to you left what do you do? Your right? You're basically ready for anything in the third scenario.

Why should you care about my baseball days? Because I see lots of people around me getting hit in the face over and over again. I feel like we're a generation of youth living on our heels. We might think a lot about possible future events but we're not ready for the ball to come our ways at all times. Think about the ideal situation I described. A fielder thinks about possible actions, remains adaptable in the moment, acts decisively and completes some action. How many of us can say we go through that process in a day? week? month? I realized a few months ago that I spend the majority of my time thinking about what MIGHT happen. But not about the current situation. I was thinking about what will happen if the score is 5-4? What if we lose the game? What if we don't make the playoffs? The result, life hits you in the face. People around me are doing similar things. Constant hypothetical situations and lots of talk about "I want" and "I'm thinking about." I'm not saying those things are bad! Those things are important but we're often losing focus of the present and about the next steps we need to take to move forward. The thinking alone doesn't make a ballplayer.

I've been in plenty of situations where I marinated on a topic for far too long and ended up getting hit in the face. A simple example is talking to chickidies at a party. I'm the type of guy that marinates on what to say, and then runs through possible scenarios and then might approach said lady. The problem? I am totally on my heels, especially if she comes over and talks to me. Not sure if that's the best example but hopefully you catch my drift. We need to be more decisive and at worst we decide wrong and grow from that. The point is by evolving thought into action you're able to create life events on your terms. You're able to quickly weigh out scenarios, live on your toes, and you're able to choose the bounce you want and your instinct will tell you what to do with it. I do this at work all the time now. Before a meeting I think about where people are going to sit and what the dynamic might be like or before an interview I go through scenarios and decide what I will do in each. The point is my thinking is becoming more in the moment and more action oriented.

I still find myself on my heels all the time and I really want to change. Opportunities are flying right past us every moment of every day. Think when you need to! but be adaptable in the moment to act instantly, be decisive and make things happen. Life is going to hit each and everyone of us in the face from time to time. If you're on your heels, it might knock you down and it might knock you off course. If you're on your toes, maybe you can still make that play you need to or at least you were able to do your best on your own terms. So stretch out a little bit. Take a deep breath and get up on those toes. You know all the possible outcomes. Ping! The ball is on its way... one bounce... two bounces.....what you gonna do?