Monday, May 01, 2006

The Gift Of A Brand New Season

Photograph Niki Paton / Baseball Notions

SAINT PAUL, Minn.- Spring is the gift of a brand new season overflowing with idealistic dreams for the future. Before dreams can begin to take shape, first there must be proper attention upon the lessons and heartbreaks still present from preceding seasons.

One should take care and consider the nuance of lost opportunities before a new slate enables a fresh chance to go after a dream. Those who have been around longer know that statistics speak volumes but do not reflect the pain, effort or challenges overcome by the end of a bad or good season.

As spring training commences the struggles of competing, whether it is for a new position or an old one are at hand. We have the opportunity to reflect on the past just long enough to see our personal truth, learn and put our best foot forward.

The first hard lessons of spring training are upon us and the question on every ones minds … do I honestly have what it takes to make it? Well isn’t that a fundamental question internalized by everyone in life. It is a journey of self-discovery. It is what drives us to try harder to prove ourselves.

For the next seventeen plus weeks players and coaches alike are aiming for the same goal and soon we will be underway on that ride we call independent baseball. No matter where everyone winds up in the end, they all start in the same place in the spring, the beginning.