Good morning Bloggers of the world,
After watching game seven of arguably the best World Series ever played, I marveled at just how mediocre you can be at hitting and still be considered one of the best at your craft. Second baseman Ben Zobrist, who won the coveted Most Valuable Player award for the World Champion Chicago Cubs, finished the season with a batting average of .272. For his efforts in 2016, he made a modest 10 million dollars. Not bad for doing what you are paid to do 27 out of each 100 times you come to plate. In fact, he came to bat 523 times and had 142 hits for the season. In fairness to Ben, that constitutes a stellar season in the game we call the American pastime. To hit in the 300’s puts you in the superstar category and to hit 400 or above is as exclusive as walking on the moon; only a handful have done it. Batting average is defined by the number of hits divided by the number of at bats. What if our jobs, marriages, personal relationships, kids, and the list goes on, had BA’s that were that low. I don’t know about you, but my life would be as messy as a two-year old eating a plate of spaghetti in a car with bad shocks on a bumpy road. No one in life has ever batted a thousand and God knows that we are not capable of such a feat. But, in our lives, we should strive to raise that average each day and when we do go into a slump; maybe we need to do what batters do to get better. By staying calm, not trying to figure out what the pitcher is throwing, not moving our heads, and by keeping our eyes on the ball, we can improve. In other words, keep your eyes on God! When my life was chaotic, in an effort to raise my BA, I went about it all the wrong way. I tried to steal the pitcher’s signals; I wanted a shortcut, I didn’t want to bunt; I wanted a home run every time, I didn’t have knowledge of the strike zone; I chased bad pitches and refused to take walks, I didn’t know my strengths and weaknesses; I didn’t know what pitches I hit best, I had no focus; this led to leading my league in strike-outs, and lastly, I had a crummy attitude; I was defeated before I even stepped into the batter’s box. Is your batting average not where you would like it to be? There is no substitute for good fundamentals to raise and maintain a high batting average. What are you doing to improve your batting average?
