I have loved the game of baseball for as long as I can remember. I went to my very first game at a young age, and I immediately became enamored with the game. The bright lights, the smell of freshly mowed grass, the sounds of fans, the crack of the bat and the sound of the ball meeting leather ignited my heart and soul. It has been 34 years since that first game, and those same feelings still rush over me when I walk into a ballpark.
That first game I saw way back featured the Houston Astros and the Pittsburgh Pirates. One player that stood out was Astros second baseman Craig Biggio. The way he played, the way he ran—the way he did everything was amazing to me. He gave every ounce of effort to play the game, and from that moment, I knew that was the type of player I wanted to be. There was nothing about my approach that was original; if Biggio did it, then I looked at it as “baseball gospel.” Biggio went on to become a Hall of Famer, and I went on to become a decent player in my own right.
Famous baseball writer and historian Bill James once said, “He might be the all-time leader in small but yet significant things,” when describing Biggio. It was one of those moments that stuck with me, and it continues to stick with me to this day. The “little things” we do matter. In baseball, we love the highlights. We love big home runs, big strikeouts or diving plays that change the trajectory of the game. Those things matter, but there are countless things that create those moments. There could be a player who knows it is a one-run game, and he must get on base. He then leans into an inside pitch and takes one off the elbow to reach base. It could be a small shift by an infielder that puts him or her in a position to make that diving catch. It could be as little as digging deep and trying to run just a little bit harder to beat out an infield single. The little things are necessary to achieve the big moments.
When you go watch the Warhawks, take it all in. These players are some of the best in the country at what they do, and they are all on the field because they did the little things right. They choked up on the bat half an inch, and it enabled them to get to that fastball that burned them earlier. The catcher set up half a step outside to catch that small corner to get out of a bases-loaded jam. It can be an outfielder creeping up before the pitch, and those small steps were the difference in fielding a one-hopper versus making a diving catch to keep that one-run lead.
Baseball is more than just a game to me; it is part of who I am, and it influences the way I approach my career and life. Life is so full of little things we can do that have significant impacts. Showing up to class on time, turning in assignments on time and asking a question in class that helps you and fellow classmates understand a topic better all might make the difference between a B grade and an A grade on a final. These little things may seem redundant on a day-to-day basis, but they can easily set you apart from your classmates or future co-workers. Whether you are on the ball field, in a classroom or at your future workplace, if you take care of the little things—the big things will take care of themselves.
