Ahhhh... Opening Day 2008. The Indians beat the Sox in a nail biter. The Crew ruins the Cubs' Wrigley opener by first blowing their lead in the ninth and then taking the "W" in the tenth. The Tigers lost earlier in the day. The Yankees were rained out. The Dodgers shut out their arch rival San Francisco Giants. Boy its good to be seeing all this again.
For seven of the year's twelve months baseball is played on fields from Seattle to Miami. New stars emerge in the clutch. Old heroes retire; unable to get that punch behind their fastball. Dynasties continue when teams make the playoffs for the tenth season in a row. Upstarts show their talent and chemistry by beating out the favorite the final week of the season. And when it's all over one team out of thirty is called the World Series Champion.
But before those bottles of champaign are popped open, 162 games need to be played in the regular season. Day after day after day baseball teams take the field. The very best of them will loose over 60 games. The worst team ever actually won 40 baseball games in 1962.
You win some, you lose some, and along the way you learn a thing or two. Tomorrow is new opportunity to show your stuff. Today you may make three errors, but tomorrow you are right back at shortstop. Today you might hit two homers, but your team still loses. (Sorry Jim Thome.) Baseball is a game. That's true. But it is a whole lot like life in one very important way: no one is perfect for even the MVP of the league fails more often than he succeeds. Last year's MVP Jimmy Rollins reached base only 34.4% of the time.
So make today count. Embrace your God given gifts. Use them. Live life. And when you fail always remember you'll step up to the plate again.
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