Lights won’t always be green

I’m sure there are players and coaches who are doing some soul searching these days after their long seasons of baseball.  Players who hit .210 and pitchers with an ERA over 6.00 are probably wondering if this sport is really for them.  Coaches who spent a tough year with entitled athletes, critical parents, and maybe even unsupportive administrators might be asking the common question – why exactly am I doing this? 

 Every player and coach goes through this in their careers.  Some of them are just going through a short tough spot and rebound quickly.  Others find themselves at a crossroad in their career and need to decide what direction to go next. 

This time period may be especially tough for those who never really experienced true adversity in the game.  To some, the game has always come easy and although they’ve had a bad game or two, they may have never experienced an entire season of poor performance.  When this happens, and it will if you play long enough, it can really shake the foundation of the player or coach involved.

 In baseball (and in life) it is important to understand that the lights won’t always be green.  Red lights (slumps, ruts, losses, benching, etc.) hit all of us.  How a player or coach responds to this adversity will go a long way in determining how far they go in the game.  Do they put down their glove or coaching shoes and move on to another endeavor or do they accept the wake up call, make the necessary adjustments and keep moving forward?  There is no right or wrong decision here.  Either way, you have to decide now. 

 What you can’t do is sit around waiting or hoping for all the lights in the game to turn green.  They never will.