At an early age, my father taught me to make someone pay for bad games, slumps, and losing streaks. It is
Don’t beat yourself up. Make someone else pay.
good advice for individual players and teams alike.
Baseball has a way of mentally wearing you down over time. When it does, it becomes very easy to lash out at yourself, teammates, and/or coaches. Channeled in that direction, the frustration the game naturally creates can be very damaging. But not if directed another way. After a bad game, a player can stay calm and say to himself … “I played bad today and tomorrow’s pitcher is going to pay the price.” Doing so as an individual or collectively as a team helps to channel this emotion in a more positive way so as to keep the player or team moving forward. It also prevents teams from pointing fingers and coming apart at the seams because it directs their frustration at opposing teams instead of their own.
The next time a bad game occurs, let that emotional flame flicker inside but make sure it doesn’t burn you up. Instead, make someone else pay.
