Getting on base is hard.
In baseball, success is rare.
A hitter who gets on base three times out of ten is elite.
Hitting a baseball requires the body to act before the mind is certain.
Baseball is unusual because the defense starts with the ball.
The pitcher has full control.
He forces the batter to decide.
And the decision is usually wrong.
Most at-bats end the same way.
A return to the dugout.
This is not unfair.
It is precise.
Getting on base is not something you deserve.
It happens when preparation meets a brief opening.
If you remove the difficulty,
you remove the meaning.
Even for young players,
the game requires adherence to its severe laws.
When adults remove difficulty from the game,
they spare disappointment in the moment.
But they remove the meaning of success.
Softening the game is not the same as teaching the game.
Baseball does not promise success.
It asks you to fail, publicly and often,
for the chance to succeed occasionally.
The things that matter resist us.
They do not yield because we are frustrated.
They do not yield because we are young, or sincere.
They yield because we persist.
Getting on base is hard.
That is why it matters.