Personal Narrative: My Average Baseball Player

As soon as I made my very first varsity baseball appearance, I knew that I had to be the very best I could be or there was never going to be a chance of ever putting on that white and maroon crisp cleaned dri-fit Russel number 18 jersey. My heart was beating beyond faster than it should be at my first at bat because I had always heard “Just wait you haven't seen nothing yet, wait till you face them varsity pitchers.” Players older than me had constantly been saying that throughout my freshman season and it kept repeating over and over in my head like a broken record. Although I had studied the pitcher and had seen with my very own eyes, he wasn’t as good as everyone talked him up to be. I was still overawed and very nervous about messing up.

The first pitch that the coach threw to me seared the hair right off my head since it was going so fast. “Strike one!” called the ump. Alright, I needed to believe in my abilities. The next pitched was hurled right in line with my face! When I opened my eyes, I saw that the baseball was a perfect pitch and the catcher hadn’t moved his glove. The coach was making a fool out of me with his famous curve ball. “Strike two!” the umpire proclaimed. The next pitch was the one that I would make my mark on. The pitcher wound up and thrust the ball toward the catcher’s glove. I loaded and fiercely swung as hard as I could. After what seemed like forever, I looked into the catcher’s glove, and there was the ball. I felt dreadful. “Strike three!” I heard in the background. As I walked back to the dugout, I wondered what did I do wrong, what could I have changed, and what does the coach think of

From the young age of five, through the eleven years full of learning curves and numerous injuries, I was shaped by my self motivation and peers. Softball was a profound component in my daily life. When I was younger I would have never thought softball would have such an incredible impact on my character. Today, my past experiences shape me into an individual who can be seen as not only a leader, but as someone who can work as a team to achieve goals and standards. I remember learning to pitch for the first time.

As my Varsity baseball team suits up for practice we whip out our “Easton Mako Bats” and our “Evo-Shield arm sleeves.” Everyone prepares for the season as we break in our new 200-dollar gloves. As I Un-zip my “Demarani Bat Bag” I search for the stick of eye black that seems to add spice to my game as I smother it under my eye, to “reflect the sun” of course. Our accessories become a part of our game, and we begin to value them more than the game itself.

Ever high school baseball player has to remember there very first high school baseball game. I remember playing two inning in state playoffs for baseball. I only got to play those two inning because one of are teammates had to stop playing. It was the best two inning in my whole life it was so much fun but also so nerve wracking at the same time because I didn’t want to mess up anything or let my team down.

We were in the streets of the neighborhood, Ann Elizabeth to be exact. We had just began to play a game of baseball with my brothers new metal bat. Mom had already left for work and my dad was getting ready to leave as well. He was running sort of late. My brother and I were about to start the game, we check around us to make sure no one was near us to play a safe game. We saw our little sister and brother at the front doors neighbor's house playing with their daughter last time we checked. As my brother threw the baseball, I was getting ready to swing then bam! Before I knew it the bat had already crashed into my little brother's head. Let me remind you that this was a metal bat. A metal bat had ran cross my little brother's head. I was so terrified. My little brother was only 4 at that time. I did not know what to do. I held him in my arms. He was still conscious. I was holding my hand over his open wound. He bled a lot. My other brother had ran to let my dad know. My dad came rushing outside,

It was the last games of the baseball season. We had are worse pitcher pitching for our team. And they had an ok pitcher pitching. We got to the semi finals and our coach was going nuts. I was in the locker room getting ready for the game and my teammates Austin and Tevan were right next to me also getting ready they were one of the best players on the team.

When a person finds something that they love that’s all they have. It turns into a passion, and soon becomes life. Baseball is what I loved it was everything. There was no escaping and no desire of escaping. If this was taken away I would have nothing. The love for this one sport was no choice, it was something I was born with. Passed down from grandfather to father to me, cousin, and his son. Baseball started from day one. Before walking a ball was in my hand. Playing catch turned to little league, which turned to select teams traveling and playing in tournaments in many different cities. The love of the game was in full bloom. There was no sign of it ever stopping. One sharp pain in the elbow was never believed to be something that had the

Then in the fourth inning we scored one more run making it five to three going into the bottom of the fourth at this point I was beyond scared because the coach told me to be ready to pitch. In the bottom of the fourth inning they scored one more run making it five to four we did not score in the top of the fifth and in the bottom of the fifth West Central got their first two batters on base. The coach walked on to the mound and motioned to me that I was going to pitch. I was very scared; all I was trying to do was throw strikes which I did, we got out of the inning without them scoring. Then the bottom of the sixth came where again their first two batters got on base, I thought I am going to lose the state championship for my team, but somehow I struck out next three batters. When the bottom of the seventh came and we were still ahead, I knew that we were going to win I was not scared at all anymore. I got the first three batters out to win the championship the team’s first ever state championship.

At the beginning of the Softball season, I had a horrible pitch, now after a ton of practice, I can finally get a perfect pitch. I always wanted to be a pitcher because there were only two pitchers on my team. But it was me against my coach and my team. Would the coach approve my pitch? Would the team accept me as a pitcher? Read my story to find out.

I click my cleats with my bat and dig a hole in the batter's box and stair at the pitcher. The pitch comes in slow almost in slow motion. I swing as hard as can. I hear the crack of the bat and I see the ball fly over the fence. I can't believe it. I never thought in a million years I would ever hit a homerun. I hear my teammates screaming. I round first, I'm almost at second when the shock wears off and I realize that I just won the game. A huge smile crosses my face as I round third and head for home. I get closer and closer to home. I stomp on home. Then before I know it the lights go out.

it's a hot Texas Sun beat down upon my neck a fast ball whizzed past my bat and into the catcher's glove after you had another strikeout. I trudged back to the dugout thoughts of failure filled my mind of my confidence slowly vanishing. I wasn't accustomed to anything less than success before high school. I prospered in youth athletics while living in South Dakota. I had a phenomenal baseball coach to transform my robbed potential into success on the baseball diamond. Unfortunately, my father's Air Force career demanded that we move before my baseball season. Without me my team went on to win the city state championships advancing all the way to the Little League World. When I was younger my family moved to not affect my athletic performance the difficulties began I was torn from my tight-knit community in Northern Virginia and forced to adjust to life in West Texas prior to the start of my freshman year. I struggled to regain the close friends and relationships I left behind for the first time in my life.

did things people asked me to, but nothing more than what was expected. I faced very few setbacks. School was great and I put little effort into it, and still earned decent grades. Within softball I was working at an acceptable pace. Every now and then I wondered what I could achieve with a little effort. I had a pretty good attitude towards life and was proud of who I was. I lived up until 7th grade with thinking I was doing fine. It became an issue when I would want to be better at things, but I did not want to try hard.

My teammate runs over from first base to second, as I hear my name called out. I get out of the dugout, as I walk out my coach urgently talks to me. He yells at me: “Just focus. Focus only on the ball.” My heart beating, crowd watching, and my bat up high, I see the pitcher starting to take off. “My only option”, I say to myself. I see the ball coming right toward the middle. I take a swing, the ball tips my bat, as I stood there like it was about to end. I take one of my biggest decisions in my life, as the pitcher makes a fastball up high. All of the sudden, the fear goes away. I have confidence. All I hear is the sound that the bat makes when it hits the ball. The moment I open my eyes, I see the ball going high up into right field. The ball hits the ground, as my vision gets blurred by my tears.

My profession as a baseball player has been all about development since I was a little kid. After reading the article and chapters from the book I can see where Strengths Based Leadership has been used on me to promote growth at certain times in my career.