samflamont:

If being the best was easy everyone would be in the hall of fame.  Please understand how hard baseball actually is, and if you want to make it, or if you even want to keep your head above water you have to put some time into it and actually understand what baseball is.  It is for this reason you have to love this game with every inch of your being, and that is only the start of the journey, you must also make any and all sacrifices that are needed to truly be great, and for this reason some people throw in the towel.  There is no balancing act between baseball, love, life, and other sports, you simply must have your life revolve around your love of baseball and banish all other sports.  Baseball is to complex and to unforgiving to just go through the motions and be successful.  Also, you cannot put anything in front of it, I mean nothing and that is why only a few are ever truly great at baseball.  It takes to much work and to much sacrifice to be great, it is so much easier to either quit or simply accept being OK or good enough.  You would think if you can fail 70% of the time and be better than average it would be easy to be great.  But it is because it takes every thing you have in your body to succeed 25% of the time that people get bored, frustrated, upset, demoralized, and even brought to tears over a stupid game.  This my friend is where you go wrong, as soon as you think baseball is only a game you have failed.  Baseball is an actual being, it grows, it matures, it gets better, it has so much charisma that people pay to sit around and watch it, and just when you think you can walk away from it and leave it out of sight and out of mind you come crawling right back, asking for another chance, begging for it to take you back.  Baseball is one of us, it is the greatest sport ever played, and it is those who do not understand it’s complexity, nuances, or it’s weird personality who think it is boring.  Baseball wants to laugh, it wants to celebrate, it wants you to be young, but it is you who take it far to serious to actually enjoy everything it brings to your life.  You see the key to being successful is to love it and enjoy every second of the time you have with it.  If you can do this you have a chance to be great because you will not quit, you will not walk away, and you will never disrespect the game.  Therefore it will give you a chance to be part of it, and it will embrace you, but rest assured if you ever turn your back on it, or forget how much fun it is, or how much pleasure it brings, it will simply leave, but the great thing about baseball is it never turns it’s back on you, it is always there just waiting for you to embrace it and remember why you love it.  Even if you make a mistake it will take you back, baseball is forgiving and understanding of your feelings, and it knows you get frustrated with it, it even knows it is difficult to get along with, and it knows it can make you feel awful or embarrassed.  It is for these reasons it never gives up on you, only you give up on you.  Baseball is always there and if you are willing to take the time to understand it and truly get to know it baseball will let you in and embrace you.  Baseball loves you for you, but you have to love it for what it is and stop thinking it is a simple game.  Remember it is not a game and it is not simple, it is a complex being and is impossible to master.  Why do you think it keeps your attention, because unlike the video game that takes you 12 hours to conquer baseball takes a lifetime just to simply understand it and if you have thoughts of conquering it you might as well leave those outside the club house.  Love the game for what it is, a great and timeless being that will never let you down.