I know, it's been a long time. No Rakim. Legislative session ended a couple weeks ago (which means the couple weeks leading up to that point were fast and furious...okay, I'm killing the unintentional pun game today). After session ended I've been...well, not de-stressing, but...getting back into the lull of things that was life before then. This transitional period has left my mind in a suboptimal mood for writing, which is less than desirable considering the subject. When I originally came up with this idea, I knew it could be done really well if written correctly. Well, time to see if it is.
I'm sure everyone has a basic understanding of baseball, so I'll skip that and get right to the point. If there are particular nuances, I'll explain those. Now, how does baseball serve as a metaphor for life?
1. There's no time limit
There's really no other place to start. Football, basketball, and hockey have time limits. The length of a baseball game, of course, is based on innings. Games can take two hours, games can take five hours. That's not even getting into extra-inning affairs. It's our job to live our lives to the fullest in the time that we're provided, even though we don't know exactly how much time that is.
2. The home team always bats last
Ever heard the saying "it's not what happens to you, it's what you do about it"? That's what I'm getting at with this one. The home team bats last so it has the advantage of seeing how many runs the visitors put up, thereby knowing what it must do to succeed (win). Same with us in everyday life: we see what the world does to us first. Then we react, and often we win.
3. Teams play games (just about) every day
Football teams play once a week. This is easily understandable given the physical nature of the game. Basketball teams dread laying on consecutive nights, and I can't recall an instance in which an NBA team had to play three nights in a row. Baseball? You're out there every day (travel days excepted), no matter what. It's expected, as it should be expected of us to live every day in life. Not just to exist, but to live. Go out there. Try your best. Even if you don't win every day, guess what?
4. Teams play each other more than once in a row
In baseball, teams often play sets of three games (sometimes two, sometimes four: the only times they play one-offs are in cases of rescheduled games). If something gets the best of you one day, you can wake up the next morning and try again. How many situations in life are really one and done? Not many. Get up and get it done the next day. We want to win every day, but two out of three isn't bad. If you don't believe me, check the standings and see how many baseball teams win 108 games annually. Sometimes the game does get the best of you, but you can't let that get you down. Why not? Two reasons. First, there's another opponent waiting and another three-game set. Second?
5. What you do one day affects what what you can do the next day
In terms of the game, this relates mostly to pitching. Pitchers can't pitch too many consecutive days in a row. Starters can only pitch once every few days. Relievers can pitch consecutive days, but it often wears them down. If you tire yourself out today, you won't have left for tomorrow - and as mentioned above, neither baseball nor life gives too many chances for off days.
6. Life, like baseball, is context-dependent in many ways
Without getting too deep into a sabermetric discussion, let's look at the major baseball stats. Runs? Need someone else to bring you in. RBI? Need someone else on base. Steals? Well, you can't steal first. Most basic pitching stats are dependent upon defense: W, ERA, WHIP, even QS to a degree. Saves? Your team has to have the lead. Holds? Same story. I hope I don't have to provide a list of all the areas of life that are context-dependent. Much of our worldview depends on things that are out of control: where we live, who our parents are, what school(s) we go to. A large part of a baseball player's worth is determined by the stats they put up. Same with our worth and what we think about the world (which, of course, influences our actions).
7. Teammates are extremely important
One person can't take over a game, unlike basketball. Each of us plays our part to accomplish bigger goals that we can't achieve alone. Can you imagine a baseball game with only the pitcher playing defense? Awful. Same with only one batter: what happens? Unless the batter hits a homerun or gets an out, there's an issue. Same is true in life: you can only get so far in life alone Sometimes you get stuck at first or second and need someone to bring you in. Sometimes a friend or family member may need you to bring them in.
8. Everyone can play
You don't have to be tall, as basketball players generally are. You don't have to be extremely strong, as most football players are. Baseball skills vary, as do the athletic builds of many players. CC Sabathia, even though he's lost weight, is still considered portly. Dustin Pedroia, the 2008 AL MVP, is shorter than I am (for those not in the know, I'm 5'10"). Carl Crawford and Matt Kemp played multiple sports in high school. Crawford was all-state - in Texas - in three sports and had a football scholarship offer to Nebraska. Kemp is 6'8" and played high school basketball with NBA player Shelden Williams. All of them are stars. Your size doesn't matter as much as your skill set does. That's what gets you where you want to go.
9. Every stadium is different - and sometimes, those differences are huge
Every football field is 360 feet by 160 feet. Basketball? 94 feet by 50 feet. Baseball? Yeah, lots of luck. The infields are the same, but the outfields have all kinds of different measurements. Center field in Houston even has a small hill toward the wall. Baseball has different locales where the game is played. So does life. Some baseball outfields are more conducive to certain players. Petco Park in San Diego has a huge outfield. You need fast players to cover all the ground. You can get by in a smaller park with slower outfielders, who may be bigger and/or more likely to put the ball over the fence. Ideally, there's a certain fit between players and environment. If you dislike waking up early or being around children all day, teaching probably isn't the profession for you. If you're a people person, engineering may not be the best fit. If you thump your Bible everywhere you go, you might not want to tend bar on South Beach. We all fit somewhere, and we owe it to ourselves to find where we fit best.
10. The best place to be is home
I don't mean "home" in terms of a geographic location as much as I mean "home" being a state of mind. Think of home. What do you think of? Peace, serenity, being content (if home doesn't produce these thoughts for you, then something's wrong). I know I feel more comfortable at home than I do anywhere else. No matter what we do when we're out, no matter how much fun we have, there's always that good feeling about coming home. In a way, the reason we leave home is to ensure the level of comfort that will wait for us when we come back. We go to work so we can pay the mortgage or rent. We go to the store so we have food to eat while we're here. We go out on the town (or across the world) to break the monotony: to keep the comfort of home from becoming stale and turning into discontent. Home keeps us centered, keeps us right. I think everyone knows the baseball side of this one.
Play ball.
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