Baseball is often referred to as one of the greatest pastimes of America. The sport can be thought of as one of the three "B's:" baseball, beer, and burgers. 'Merica, hell yea. The thrill of the game coupled with the companionship of the thousands of other fans sitting around you rooting for the same common goal you are is chilling. For the sports fans out there, you know what I'm talking about as this can relate to really just about any sport. For everyone else, well, I guess you'll have to take my word for it and bear with me.
Growing up, baseball, basketball and football (both college and professional) seemed to always be playing on the television in my house. Baseball just seemed to catch my eye more than the others, though. I used to watch the Atlanta Braves because they were the only team that was constantly shown in my region. Being from North Carolina which has no professional baseball team in the state (nor in Virginia or South Carolina for that matter), the Braves came to be my go-to team. The Braves are a very historic franchise and I won't go into all that they've accomplished but know that they are a historically good team. Recently, my beloved Braves have fallen down the slippery slopes of MLB baseball, though. In fact, they are projected to finish with the worst record in the Majors this season and you don't have to follow sports to know that that isn't good. Sometimes, it's hard to be a sports fan.
After thinking about how the Braves have fallen from the high peaks of Major League Baseball to the lowest valley, it reminded me of college, and well life in general. Baseball, like life, has no clock. There is no 20 minute overtime. There is no sudden death penalty shootout. It simply goes until it ends. You may be down with one out left in the ninth and you can come back to tie it or even win the game. In baseball, like life, we often fight the hardest in the last inning.
Also in baseball, there are multiple chances to succeed. There is a system of strikes and balls and fouls. If you mess up, you get another shot. In life, we often have many more failures than successes. But in baseball, like life, those failures make us better and stronger which leads us to be a better competitor the next day.
Next, the whole individual and team aspect comes into play. Each team is comprised of 20 or 30 so individuals that complete the team as a whole. It is the individual play that makes the team what they are. In life, we are our own person, obviously but sometimes we cannot function without the help of others. Sometimes, as individuals, we bring something special to a group of people that helps further its development. We are all vital to our life's team.
Sacrifices are big in baseball. They are used to advance runners from one base to another, and if you're lucky, a sacrifice hit can bring in a runner to score. Throughout life, we are often forced to sacrifice something or another in order to help our team score. Parents sacrifice many, many things for their children. Sometimes, you have to do the work in order for someone else to take the glory.
Lastly, there is a certain amount of control in baseball and in life. In baseball, you score when the opposing team has the baseball. In life, we try to score or achieve greatness, do good, or better ourselves when our opposition has the ball such as in the workplace or school. In work and in school, it may seem as if everyone is here to watch you fail as if they are rooting for you stumble and give up. But like in baseball, those that truly want to succeed will work their hardest to not fail. They find ways to overcome obstacles in order to succeed and we do the same in life.
With all of this being said, as I type this, my beloved Braves are 0-4 to start out the season. They're winless, but today as they play their fifth game of the year, they are actually winning. If they work hard enough and put their mind to it, they can turn it around and hopefully get that elusive first win of the year. Just like us, the Braves are fighting. It's these comparisons that lead me to say, "Let's play ball!" when I wake up in the mornings. Go Braves. Go America. Go us. We got this.
