"Baseball is ninety percent mental and the other half physical."--Yogi Berra
We have a few Cincinnati Reds baseball fans in the family--my almost-90 year old mom and my hubbie the two biggest ones. Me, not so much--only because I can't seem to sit still long enough to finish a game in its entirety. But when Mom came to spend a few days with us, the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame and Museum down by the stadium topped the list of things to do.
The museum was a whole lot bigger than we expected. Of course there was history--of players, ball fields, records, owners. There were interactive stations--a batting cage, umpire's window, the *catch* at the outfield wall. There was the batter's box, the bullpen, the announcer's booth. Awards and record-breakers. It was all fun, even for a lackluster fan.
Before long the writing side of the brain kicked in, and I began to see analogies to the writer's life. (No surprise here, I'm sure.) Like the writer who dreams of publication, the team started with a dream. In the case of the Reds that meant visionaries back in the 1860s. Add skill, talent, and practice--all things writers need to develop, too. Build a bull pen of fellow writers, view the manuscript through the umpire's eyes of critique partners, enter the batter's cage of submissions ('let them fly'), and walk boldly into the announcer's booth of marketing.
Let's turn it over now to words from some professionals of the game itself, and see what they say:
#1. "Never allow the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game." --Babe Ruth
#2. "There are three types of baseball players: Those who make it happen, those who watch it happen, and those who wonder what happens." --Tommy Lasorda
#3. "No matter how good you are, you're going to lose one-third of your games. No matter how bad you are you're going to win one-third of your games. It's the other third that makes the difference." --Tommy Lasorda
#4. "I've never questioned the integrity of an umpire. Their eyesight, yes." --Leo Durocher
#5. "Poets are like baseball pitchers. Both have their moments. The intervals are the tough things." --Robert Frost
And the classic of all classics: #6. "It ain't over 'til it's over." --Yogi Berra
Ah, do you see connections here to the world of writing? A few lessons we can apply in order to achieve our dreams?
Summer pastimes, summer fun. Any writerly connections to other warm-weather activities come to mind?
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