Baseball Essential: Never Give Up
Next in our series of Baseball Essentials is the reminder that good baseball players never quit.
3. BE RELENTLESS.
Never Yield. Never Yield. Regardless of what the scoreboard says, you are never defeated unless you give up, unless you go belly up. No opponent can make you do this. Giving up is something you do. Regardless of what the scoreboard says, no opponent can extinguish the flame in your heart or crush the intensity of your will without your consent. Never surrender
If as players we remember that the opponent we most desire to defeat is not the one in the other dugout, but the one in our dugout who says we can be lazy, undisciplined, selfish, or downcast, then we have a chance at a real win. True, they do not give out trophies for not giving up. When UNC lost to Fresno State in the CWS, they went home. No one gave them a consolation prize. However, those young men left knowing that down to the last out they gave their best. When a teammate struck out, no one put them down; instead, they tried to encourage him so in his next plate appearance he was confident that he could, and would, hit the ball. Despite their dejection on the plane ride home, because they are good athletes, they knew that the life-lesson of perseverance is more important than a CWS title. After all, can you name one person off the top of your head who was on the CWS winner in any of the past three years?
Me neither.
