I am living a life of recovery now and one of the tools of the program is the Serenity Prayer. It reads like this: God grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change;the Courage to change the things I can; and the Wisdom to know the difference. One of the toughest lessons for players to accept is that they dont control the outcome of everything in the game. They can only control what they can control. You would be shocked by the fine line that baseball players walk between confidence and complete and utter fear of failure, even among the very best players. I asked New York Mets star third baseman David Wright in spring training if he ever thought when he signed to play ball out of high school if he would have this kind of career. He said he didnt and then added that he questions himself all of the time if he can still do it. When he has a bad day he battles those (voices) that make him wonder if he might not be good anymore. If he has those thoughts, I clearly had no chance with the way I thought. When players struggle like Anthony Young and Jeff Jeff Samardzija they can feel helpless and hopeless. They wonder what they can possibly do differently. They start to feel like they need to be perfect. Striving for perfection is dangerous. When a pitcher isnt getting run support he feels like he needs to miss bats and pitch a shutout. When pitchers try too hard they often compound their problems. The same for batters. It is not a matter of trying harder to perform better in baseball. It takes concentration and intensity. Unfortunately, "trying" to generate intensity often leads to tension. Tension leads to overthinking and over trying which leads to more struggles. It is a vicious circle that can start all over again. The key to overcoming struggles is to maintain ones composure and confidence. Players truly need to understand that they dont have to be perfect. Remember, this is a game where hitters fail 70% of the time and are deemed extremely successful. Coping with failure is the attribute that separates the men from the boys in the major leagues. It was my downfall. Failure devoured me. I actually felt physical pain when I was struggling. I obsessed about it, it ate me up. Remarkably, Anthony Young and Jeff Samardzija had the ability to not get paralyzed by their failure because within the failure they were able to see some success. They learned that a loss didnt mean they were a loser. They didnt let their performance or their job become their identity. The ability to own their role in the result and not take on the entire responsibility of the result was critical. My experience is that when people share their personal struggles around failure it helps the person going through a tough time. That is what sponsors do in recovery and coaches do in baseball. I am still so amazed by athletes that can cope with failure. I know the challenge it can be. I still have to battle the negative thoughts that come with failure. I am better at it than I have ever been mainly because I have given myself a lot of practice. In recovery we talk about "Progress not perfection." It works in baseball too. 4) Next week baseball will hold the First-Year Player Draft. Eligible high school and college kids in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico can be drafted in the forty rounds (plus compensation picks) of the draft. Once drafted the kids will negotiate a contract with the selecting team and when they sign they will enter the minor league system for their organization and start to work their way to the majors. Many fans show up at major league games and have no idea about where the players come from. Baseball develops its own players. It is one of the things that distinguishes it from football and basketball. The NFL and NBA are satisfied in letting the NCAA develop their players. Fans dont understand the investment that baseball makes to acquire and develop its talent. Each organization in baseball spends about $15-$20 million on their minor leagues and scouting department. Those departments are the research and development areas of the operations. The money to pay for that comes directly off of the bottom line of the revenues generated by the major league team. Teams reinvest in themselves every year. If a team calls up four rookies in a season then they are effectively spending about $5 million per player per year. That is a significant investment. The men and women that make up the minor league and scouting departments are the lifeline of every organization. They are the foundation upon which the organization is built. Without them there would be no need for a business operations department, accounting department, ticket department or marketing department. There would be no stadiums or ground crews if not for the people who choose and develop the players. For the most part this is a group of no-name faceless baseball lifers who love the game and are committed to their respective organization. They have a keen eye for talent and a knack for getting to know what kids are made of. They rarely get recognition beyond that which they give themselves at a banquet at the Baseball Winter Meetings. Each year a scout or two is recognized for long and meritorious service. As we approach the draft give some thought and thanksgiving for those who have committed their lives to your baseball enjoyment. They love the game like you do and their only hope is that they can pick players who will make you happy. They never get the attention they deserve. I hope one or two read this. ' ' '