halskinner
Banned
- May 7, 2008
- 2,649
- 0
PLAYING UP TO THE CHALLENGE
In my years of competition I accumulated many trophies. Several years ago I got tired of dusting them all off every week. I took off the name plates and donated them to a charity that could use them. I did, however, hang on to a few of the ones I was most proud of and a couple that brought back warm memories.
One of the trophies I kept was a small one, the first one I ever earned as an adult. It read: "Most Valuable Pitcher, 1974, Hayward Men's Fast Pitch, "D" League".
I joined a team right out of High School. The guys on that team were sports writers, 'typewriter pounders', as they described themselves. They told me right from the start that they were not very good players and they seldom won but they were a good bunch of guys and they always had a lot of fun. So I joined the team.
They were right. Anyone that made it to 1st, pretty much got a free trip to home plate. I believe we placed 9th out of 12 teams that year, however, I won the MV Pitcher trophy for the league. I did have a lot of fun with those guys, they were a blast and we laughed about everything.
During the season with that team I got a few calls from other teams. The other teams asked me to jump ship and pitch for them, all of them were teams in higher leagues. I said no because I made a commitment to the guys and I would stick it out with them for the rest of the season. That was my first season playing in ASA competition.
A few years after I gave those trophies away, a friend of mine came to my house. He asked me, "Why did you hang on to this little hunk-a-junk from D league? You have these other trophies and plaques from the metros, regionals and nationals and those are all A league. How come you kept this one"?
I kept that trophy so I would never forget where I came from in softball. Those were some of my softball roots.
I did not play for that team the next year. The manager would have, no doubt, welcomed me back with open arms. He never called me because the whole team knew what my answer would be. I am glad he did not call me because I would have hated to tell them no. I was going to move up and they were not. Every player on the team knew that, without one word being said.
We had all played to the best of our ability for the 'team'. Now it was time for me to move up. I have very fond memories of those guys and the fun we had playing on that team. I will never forget them.
When I came home with that trophy, I asked my Dad if he thought I was good enough to play B league the next year. This was about a 6 level jump at the time, from D to B. He chuckled and said, "I guess you'll never know till you try, huh"? If you knew my Dad then, you would understand that he was challenging me. My Dad was a B league pitcher at that time, having worked his way up from D league over a 15-year period.
Before the next season arrived I took a job out of the area. I did not play the next season.
The next year I checked around and found a team that was looking for a pitcher. I told them I did real well in D league 2 years ago. The coach then pointed out that they were an 'A' division travel team but it was OK if I wanted to come and try out for the team.
So I came out and did my best. The catcher and assistant coach wanted me to play for them because they saw potential. The head coach did not agree. I was too young in his mind to be an effective A travel pitcher. However, they needed a third stringer so I was asked to join the team.
The head coach was very sincere and diplomatic in his talk with me. I will never forget what he said, "As long as you can get in the game and throw like an A travel pitcher, we'll give ya a try but the moment you start throwing like a D league pitcher, it's over".
We both knew that I had been challenged. My Dad's words from 2 years before started ringing in my ears.
Either I stepped up to that challenge and met it head on, or I could look for a D league team.
My competition for the #1 pitching spot were two 40 year old veteran Open A division pitchers. By the end of our first season, I was the #1 gun. I saw what my competition was on the pitching staff. I stepped up to that challenge.
I saw what my competition was against the batters I would be facing. I stepped up to that challenge.
We won both leagues we were in and almost all of the tournaments we entered the first year together in A travel competition.
The next year we did the same thing except we went on to win the metro tournament, then the regionals and then the A div National Tourney. I was voted the MV Pitcher of that tourney.
I made some choices and they were not easy ones. I chose to step up to the challenge because I had to. I had to because I could not stand not knowing if I had what it took to make it as a pitcher in a higher level.
The bigger the challenge, the harder it is and the better a pitcher will perform.
When I moved up, I left some good friends and a very nice coach behind. If I would have chosen to stay with that D league team, out of devotion to the team or friendship to them, I would have never really stepped up to the challenge. We might have slowly worked our way up to B league, like my Dad's team, over 15 years. We may have still been playing D league after 15 years, who knows?
Here are the big kick finish questions for young pitchers;
If you had your pick of the trophy you wanted, would it be a 1st place 'B' National Trophy or a 1st place 'A' National Trophy? If you pitched your team to a 1st place win at the 'B' nationals, would you be good enough to beat the team that took LAST place at the 'A' Nationals?
To quote my Dad one more time, "I guess you'll never know till you try, huh"?
In my years of competition I accumulated many trophies. Several years ago I got tired of dusting them all off every week. I took off the name plates and donated them to a charity that could use them. I did, however, hang on to a few of the ones I was most proud of and a couple that brought back warm memories.
One of the trophies I kept was a small one, the first one I ever earned as an adult. It read: "Most Valuable Pitcher, 1974, Hayward Men's Fast Pitch, "D" League".
I joined a team right out of High School. The guys on that team were sports writers, 'typewriter pounders', as they described themselves. They told me right from the start that they were not very good players and they seldom won but they were a good bunch of guys and they always had a lot of fun. So I joined the team.
They were right. Anyone that made it to 1st, pretty much got a free trip to home plate. I believe we placed 9th out of 12 teams that year, however, I won the MV Pitcher trophy for the league. I did have a lot of fun with those guys, they were a blast and we laughed about everything.
During the season with that team I got a few calls from other teams. The other teams asked me to jump ship and pitch for them, all of them were teams in higher leagues. I said no because I made a commitment to the guys and I would stick it out with them for the rest of the season. That was my first season playing in ASA competition.
A few years after I gave those trophies away, a friend of mine came to my house. He asked me, "Why did you hang on to this little hunk-a-junk from D league? You have these other trophies and plaques from the metros, regionals and nationals and those are all A league. How come you kept this one"?
I kept that trophy so I would never forget where I came from in softball. Those were some of my softball roots.
I did not play for that team the next year. The manager would have, no doubt, welcomed me back with open arms. He never called me because the whole team knew what my answer would be. I am glad he did not call me because I would have hated to tell them no. I was going to move up and they were not. Every player on the team knew that, without one word being said.
We had all played to the best of our ability for the 'team'. Now it was time for me to move up. I have very fond memories of those guys and the fun we had playing on that team. I will never forget them.
When I came home with that trophy, I asked my Dad if he thought I was good enough to play B league the next year. This was about a 6 level jump at the time, from D to B. He chuckled and said, "I guess you'll never know till you try, huh"? If you knew my Dad then, you would understand that he was challenging me. My Dad was a B league pitcher at that time, having worked his way up from D league over a 15-year period.
Before the next season arrived I took a job out of the area. I did not play the next season.
The next year I checked around and found a team that was looking for a pitcher. I told them I did real well in D league 2 years ago. The coach then pointed out that they were an 'A' division travel team but it was OK if I wanted to come and try out for the team.
So I came out and did my best. The catcher and assistant coach wanted me to play for them because they saw potential. The head coach did not agree. I was too young in his mind to be an effective A travel pitcher. However, they needed a third stringer so I was asked to join the team.
The head coach was very sincere and diplomatic in his talk with me. I will never forget what he said, "As long as you can get in the game and throw like an A travel pitcher, we'll give ya a try but the moment you start throwing like a D league pitcher, it's over".
We both knew that I had been challenged. My Dad's words from 2 years before started ringing in my ears.
Either I stepped up to that challenge and met it head on, or I could look for a D league team.
My competition for the #1 pitching spot were two 40 year old veteran Open A division pitchers. By the end of our first season, I was the #1 gun. I saw what my competition was on the pitching staff. I stepped up to that challenge.
I saw what my competition was against the batters I would be facing. I stepped up to that challenge.
We won both leagues we were in and almost all of the tournaments we entered the first year together in A travel competition.
The next year we did the same thing except we went on to win the metro tournament, then the regionals and then the A div National Tourney. I was voted the MV Pitcher of that tourney.
I made some choices and they were not easy ones. I chose to step up to the challenge because I had to. I had to because I could not stand not knowing if I had what it took to make it as a pitcher in a higher level.
The bigger the challenge, the harder it is and the better a pitcher will perform.
When I moved up, I left some good friends and a very nice coach behind. If I would have chosen to stay with that D league team, out of devotion to the team or friendship to them, I would have never really stepped up to the challenge. We might have slowly worked our way up to B league, like my Dad's team, over 15 years. We may have still been playing D league after 15 years, who knows?
Here are the big kick finish questions for young pitchers;
If you had your pick of the trophy you wanted, would it be a 1st place 'B' National Trophy or a 1st place 'A' National Trophy? If you pitched your team to a 1st place win at the 'B' nationals, would you be good enough to beat the team that took LAST place at the 'A' Nationals?
To quote my Dad one more time, "I guess you'll never know till you try, huh"?
