Posted by: Mike M. (moatm@sharpsec.com) on Wed Aug 29 21:59:19 2001

i'm 13 years old and last year when i tried out for my middle school team for the first but i didn't make it. my dream is to one day play pro baseball, but how can i accomplish that if i an't make a simple middle school team. and some kids that probably don't give 10 percent of the effort as me make it. why is that

MD
I have a story that is somewhat similar. When I was 12 years old I didn't make my league's allstar team for the first time in my life. Previous to this surprise, I consistently made the allstar team and led my team in power statistics. This was the first year that I experienced the politics of losing out to the coaches kids. My team was playing the last game of the season and the "allstar" team was waiting for our game to finish when I came up in the 5th inning. I had already hit a homerun over the fence in the first inning. When I came to bat my father told me that now was the time to prove myself. I homered over the fence in the fifth inning and the eighth inning to win the game in extra innings. It was the only game in my life that I hit 3 homers over the fence. The allstar coach said it was insane not to have me on the team so he said he would add me to the roster on the spot. My father told him no since I wasn't originally chosen. I was so upset that I didn't sleep that night. But after that day, I practiced and practiced and practiced, and never missed the team again. MD, look at this as an opportunity, NOT a failure. PROVE THEM WRONG. Practice on fundamentals every day throughout the fall and winter. While the other kids are giving their 10% during the offseason, your 100% will eventually pass them by. Buy a toss machine, buy Jack's tape, buy a batting tee. Take batting lessons. Take pitching lessons. With 5 months of formal pitching training you'll bypass all the hackers. Tell your parents how much this means to you. I tell my daughter all the time - Do it to be the best or don't do it at all. If you don't turn out to be the best, chances are you will still be better than most.. Good luck.