Life Lessons Learned from Baseball

We are headed to a baseball game this evening with the church.  It is faith and family night at the Bowling Green Hot Rods stadium.  It will be a fun filled night with peanuts, crackerjacks, and baseball.  In honor of the baseball game tonight, I thought I would list a few things we can learn from baseball.

Sometimes, you need to just "Play ball!"  Every human being needs a little bit of play in their life.  You work most of it out when you're little, but there is usually some play left in the corners or closets of your soul.  Get it out, shake the dust of it, and learn to enjoy life.  Go to a ball game, dance in the kitchen, sit around the table playing boardgames with the family, or take a child to the park.  Don't allow the process of growing older make you inert.  At least once a year, laugh so hard that you cry or pee your pants.  Remember, what it was like to be a child, and a have a great time. 

It's just a game.  I know there are a lot of religious nuts who worship at the altar of baseball. Baseball isn't life, it's a pass time.  It is one tool among many that offers a pleasant distraction from the cares of life.  We have to keep our priorities in proper order.  Enjoy it, but don't devote yourself to it.

Keep your eye on the ball.  This is, of course, a figurative statement, not a literal one.  I had the great misfortune of having a softball hit me in the eye during a game once.  Apparently, my hand-eye coordination isn't very spectacular.  In life, like baseball, you have to stay focused and alert.

Never swing at the first pitch.  I'm not sure where I heard this the first time, but I have heard it a lot.  Good things come to those who wait.  Watch. Learn. Swing.

If you're gonna go down, go down swinging.  Don't let fear paralyze you at the plate, because you think you might strike out.  Chances are you will strikeout, but if you don't swing you remove all chances of getting a hit.  Most players strikeout more than they get a hit.  But they still keep swinging.  Who bats a 1000?  After you let that first pitch go, start swinging for the fences.  Who knows, you might tear the cover right off the ball.  Everyone will think that's cool.  Or you might strike out, and everyone will think your normal.  Don't let life pass you by without taking a swing or three.  It's better to have tried and struck out, than to be struck out without having swung the bat.

There's no "I" in team.  I don't just mean that I didn't get picked to play during my school days.  Great plays have the ability to change the momentum of a game, but unless the team is functioning as a whole it doesn't always change the outcome.  There are many teams, of which we are a part, in life.  We need to strive to excel individually, as well as, develop the ability to work with others toward common goals.

It is never too late to get back in the game.  Unless, of course, the last team at bat has the lead, the bases are loaded, and their power hitter is at bat against your weakest pitcher.  Then, it's pretty much over, so learn to lose gracefully (it's called sportsmanship).  But in every other scenario, hustle matters.  Play hard.  If you realize you've "not really been in the game," work harder.  Give it all you got.  That way, if you fail you'll know at least two things: you gave it your best shot and you need more practice.

Everyone loves a winner--but even losers need love.  When the home team wins everyones happy (except the fans of the losing team).  If one side of sportsmanship is losing gracefully, the other side is winning gracefully.  If you gloat over your victories, you're not really a winner.


When your watching the game, cheer with the same enthusiasm you would want to hear if you were next at bat.  Sometimes in life, it's somebody else's turn to play.  Encourage them.  Maybe you're not up to bat or out fielding the ball, but you can motivate those who are.

Peanuts taste better at the ballpark.  But if you're allergic to them, they're still lethal, so skip the peanuts.

If you leave the game early, you run the risk of missing a major play.  If you checkout too soon, you might miss one of the most exciting and memorable events in baseball history--the kind of play people talk about for decades.   If you have to go, you have to go, but realize what you're risking. You might only miss the last few minutes of the sad end to a poorly played game, or you might miss the comeback of the century.

What lessons do you think we can learn from baseball?  When was the last time you watched a game? Hopefully, I'll see some of you at the game tonight.  And No, I won't be wearing the old uniform.