Swing for the Fences
240 is the average batting average in the major leagues today. That’s on a scale of 0 to 1000. Anything over 300 is considered an excellent batting average. The greatest all-time batting averages for a career are Josh Gibson of the Negro League career with a high of 371 and Ty Cobb’s with 367. In a single season, the best ever was 471 by Toledo Vargas in 1943 of the New York Cubans. That means the greatest hitters of all time struck out more than half the time. The great batters today strike out nearly 70% of the time, and the average major league baseball player strikes out 75% of the time. That’s a lot of strikeouts!
One of the greatest and most important life lessons I have ever learned is this: Our lives will not be remembered or measured by the number of times we fail, but by the number of times we succeed. The number of times we succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times we fail but keep trying.
No major leaguers go to bat hoping for a strikeout, not ever! They’re all hoping for a single, a double, or a home run. If nothing else, they’re hoping to bring a runner in. Just getting up to bat is a victory! My life is forever changed by knowing that I am winning every time I get up to bat regardless of the outcome.
I love to see batters swing for the fences when they know statistically the odds are against them. An important truth about life and baseball is you can’t hit what you don’t swing at.
Knowing this gives the courage needed to step to the plate again and again, knowing most of my attempts will be swings and misses. Instead of focusing on the misses, I can focus on the potential.
Sadly, in life and baseball, there are always hecklers jeering at you for a swing and a miss. On the upside, there’s also that kid in the stands who every time they see someone at bat thinks this might be the moment, this may be the big hit of the game. I would way rather be that kid than the heckler.
So if, like me, you get discouraged by the misses, the strikeouts, and disappointments of life, remember to keep swinging.
Also, don’t you just love baseball?