What Baseball Teaches Us

"Baseball means dealing with failure," says David Prince. He points out that the most successful players to ever play have only managed a .4 batting average (that is a 40% hit rate). That is to say a 60% rate of failure! Prince goes on to note that baseball as a game of "managed failure" used to be popular in American culture because it was seen as a reflection of the need to develop perseverance and to work hard. But now, he notes, "what was once seen as a part of the glory of baseball -- learning to persevere in the face of consistent failure -- is now perceived to be a reason to avoid the game."

With the start of our softball season it may be good to read this article. Not so much to become better players (that isn't the goal of his article), but to be reminded of what baseball can teach us about the Christian life.