A Russian Author named Franz Kafka was famous for writing odd short stories and parables. He went through his life as a mostly unnoticed writer. It wasn’t until after his death that he gained notoriety for his literary genius. One of his most famous parables is a story titled “Before the Law”. A parable is defined as a short story where there is a lesson to be learned. In “Before the Law” Kafka writes of a man who comes from the countryside to “The Law”. The law can be anything that you want to achieve. In the story, the man encounters a doorkeeper and the man from the country asks for admittance through the door. The doorkeeper says he cannot grant access, so the man waits at this door for his entire life. There are many more doors that the man must go through, but he gets stuck at the first door. The other doors and doorkeepers are much scarier than the first but he will never see those other doors.
How does this relate to baseball?
In baseball, whether you are accepted or not, your job is to go through the door; to accept the challenge, no matter how scared you might be, and walk through the door. It is only by walking through the door that you might realize you are ready for it.
People will tell you though out your baseball life, that you are too small, short, not fast enough or talented enough, but it is your responsibility to take the challenge and walk through the door.
By walking through the first door, you can be prepared to walk through the second door, then the third door and all the doors to follow.
The man in the story never took the first challenge and never got to see if he could go through the other doors.
Each level of baseball is another door. Each baseball game is another door. Each inning is another door. The only way to find out if you can make it is to continue to meet every challenge and then get ready for the next challenge.
I wish you well as you encounter ever door and doorkeeper. Keep challenging yourself.
Until Next Time,
Chad