“But what exactly is failure? Does a sub-par season rife with losses constitute a failure? If the season is a failure then, are not the individual losses that caused that season to be a failure, failures in and of themselves as well? Yet even the most successful teams, for example even the team that wins the College World Series will most probably have upwards of ten losses (failures) at the time that they capture the college crown. With this thought in mind, when then do these small everyday failures, the loss, turn an entire season into a failure? This question of the exact recipe of failure has been hammering away at me this past week as I have been reviewing the season. Was this season a failure as so many, including our coaches have said it was, and if so when exactly was the critical point that swung the pendulum to the side devoid of success? Answering these questions will be the chief aim of this article and in doing so I will hope to propound to you my view on this season.”

“Most simply, I believe failure is a lack of fulfilling expectations. For example, if an A student gets a B on a test and a C average student achieves the same grade, the outlook from the different students will be polar opposites. The outlook is different because the expectations are different. The A student has not fulfilled expectations and thus views this test as a failure while the C student has risen above expectations and thus sees the test as a success. Consequently, if this indeed is how one should define failure, it is imperative that expectations are first defined. In the case of our team this year, it was expected that we would finish above .500 and win between 28 and 35 games. We finished far below five hundred and won only sixteen. Individually, I believed that I would hit almost equal to that pace at which I did last year. Although I had more hits than I did last year and finished in the top three on the team in virtually every offensive category, my average, on-base percentage, and home runs all depreciated. The stats, when coupled with the expectations, and our preliminary definition of failure, indicate that this season was a complete and utter disaster, a complete failure both individually and as a team.”

“There is, however, a dimension that has not been mentioned in our discussion of failure. The future realm is not graded in this expectation sense of failure. In fact, only the past is weighed because we are comparing what we thought (a past term) to what we did, another term referring to the past. The definition is then limited because it does not measure how what has happened can effect what will happen since only past expectations are weighed. The definition of failure must then be modified to account for this future dimension. With this in mind, I believe failure is then lacking both results matching expectations and a consciousness of how to make future results more closely match future expectations. More simply, to truly fail, one must both presently fail and fail to learn from the present failure. Now in order to grade this season I must proffer what was learned from our already defined present failure.”

“Just as one cannot tell the true make up of gold until it is tested in fire, I do not think that I have ever really known what I was as a ballplayer until this year. You see baseball was always something that although I had to work hard at it, success seemed to find me. It was not until this year that I found out what it was like to struggle. In the beginning of this season and throughout the better part of it I learned for the first time what it was like to fail to live up to expectations of both myself and my teammates and coaches. This struggle forced me to do a number of things that otherwise would have never have happened. First, it taught me that it is impossible to play just for stats. When I say this I mean that it is impossible to take your enjoyment from the game because of the number of hits you accumulated that day or the three RBI’s that you chalked up. Instead, it is imperative that there is another way that enjoyment can be found outside the realm of stats because in the stats when you are zero for the past millennium there is no joy in Mudville. Consequently, this year for the first time I began to learn how to just enjoy the game for what it is. I learned how to really focus and be pleased with just the feelings of the game. The smell of the field early in the morning, the feeling of catching the ball in your pocket, the excitement of being announced and running onto the field, all things that previously I believed that I had not truly focused on when playing. I would compare my journey to someone who although has long been an avid wine drinker now has become a connoisseur.”

“By changing my focus during the game from the stat sheet to just the pure inherent action of the game, I was able to mature a little bit from the standpoint of my emotions as well. This year it would be an understatement to say that my patience was tried multiple times. Yet due to the fact that I was frustrated or upset so much, too much, I found that I had to work on controlling my emotions in a better way. Consequently, through this season I was able to improve in staying at an even keel throughout the game and even after the game. I learned how to stay higher during the lows and lower during the highs. This improvement allowed me to play at my best even at the end of the season when it would have been very easy to be emotionally drained and worn out. Not only did this higher level of control improve my play, no longer was I hitting with the weight of the previous at bat, game, or season on my shoulders, but it undoubtedly made me a better teammate. I could now be the guy keeping the other guys calm and focused rather than being one that had to rely on someone else.”

“Finally, this season I learned what it was like to really be part of a team. This might sound funny considering that you probably are thinking, how much of a team could they have been they won 16 games all year? Yet, in thinking this, my point is proven. I have never been around a group of people that stuck with each other through disappointment like my team did this year. Even during the toughest of times not once can I remember cliques forming on the team or one group of guys blaming another group. Instead, even though the season was extremely tough, I enjoyed coming to the ballpark each and every day to play with thirty of my closest friends. This point I believe is best developed by describing to you the environment of the bus on the way home from our last game. Most teams in the same shoes, I’ve been on them before, would have ridden home in near silence with an almost unbearable desire to get home and disperse away from a miserable season. This team, however, I remember vividly laughing throughout the course of the ride home, enjoying our last moments with the seniors and as a team. We had learned how to stay together regardless of performance. We had learned that although we might not be the best baseball team in the world that it was still possible to remain a cohesive unit. This sense of team is the largest memory I will keep from this season.”

“Was it a failure then? Looking at it from just a past focused viewpoint, yes, without a doubt, this season was a complete disappointment. Yet in this article I believe I have shown you the lessons that I have learned in this tough season. These lessons I believe could prove more valuable in time that all the success that I had hoped for. Consequently, in looking at failure from both a past and future viewpoint there is no way I would characterize this season as a failure. I have come out a better ballplayer because of the struggles. I have come out a better person. If that is failure, then the game itself has overshadowed its essence and purpose.”