I remember when I was in 6th grade someone talked me into playing little league baseball. I had never played before but the thought of being a pitcher sounded appealing. In fact I remember saying the only way I would consider playing is if I could be a pitcher. I guess in those days in little league you can play whatever position you want. Well as long as you have talent in that area.
I started practicing being a pitcher. I didn’t know anything about it but my dad showed me how to hold the ball for a fast ball and a curve ball. I guess he watched a video or talked to someone or something. I remember going out into my backyard and stealing my dad’s wheelbarrow. It was red and made of metal. I turned the wheelbarrow upright and set it against a tree. This would be my new practice backstop. I then measured the appropriate distance and started throwing balls at it. One after another hour after hour. I got good. And let me tell you that wheelbarrow ended up getting dented and smashed and finally after several weeks of this I blew a hole right through that metal. Yeah I was only 12 but I was throwing upwards of 65mph. After I destroyed the wheelbarrow my dad made some tarp and pvc pipe system that I could throw at.
Most of the teams in the league were established and had the same kids from prior years on them. I really wanted to be on a team with some friends but that wasn’t going to happen. They formed a new team this year since so many kids wanted to play. We were all placed on this team and let me tell you there wasn’t a player amongst us at all. We were a bunch of rag tag kids who knew nothing about baseball. All of the other teams had the gifted athletes, the kids who would go on to bigger and better things in sports. That didn’t stop us from practicing though. That didn’t stop us from having a good time and getting better. We almost looked like a halfway decent team after a few weeks.
We get to the ballpark for our first game. Of course we are playing against a team that is loaded with friends. They are bigger than us, they are faster, they can hit better, field better, etc. They clearly don’t want it as much as us though. We go on to not only beat this team but go undefeated for the year. How in the world does our team do it? Still to this day I’m not entirely certain. I can tell you we had fun at what we were doing and that is all that really mattered to us.
I view the above team like most of the guys in the community I meet. They aren’t the greatest looking guys. They might not have natural game. Hell they might even be petrified at the thought of talking to girls. But the thing is they are going to practice. They are going to learn. They are going to end up being amazing at this quest.
Get out there and throw some balls.