In the 2019 Major League season, the best batting average belonged to Tim Anderson, who had a .335 average. This means that he would get a hit roughly one out of every three times he would come up to the plate.
Hugh Duffy, the diminutive Hall of Fame player, holds the record for the best single season batting average of all time. In 1894, he had a .4397 average, which means he got a hit from less than half of his at bats.
These arenât just people doing the job professionally. These are players who are the elite of the elite. And they still struck out more than they got on base.
Because even when youâre among the best at something, youâre not infallible.
So if you hold yourself to impossible standards, or feel a deep frustration with how many times your best efforts wind up with little to show for them, thereâs no time like now to stop.
Iâve had students telling me that they donât understand why they canât push themselves to do work up to the quality they held themselves to back in February.
Iâve seen it in myself, wondering why it is that even when I can clear some time off, my focus isnât as strong as it could have been a few weeks ago.
Any number of people Iâve spoken with have talked about the sense that there may be something wrong with them since theyâre not one of the people who have taken to this quarantime with aplomb.
Those people showcasing their bread, crafts, writing, music, community organizing, or hilarious videos? Thatâs not everyone. Not by a long shot.
Thereâs the line of thought that we should just snap back to normal after adjusting our lives to staying at home, staying safe, and confronting the realities of a pandemic. But we can also see this as an opportunity to reflect, and re-evaluate the things weâve taken for granted before we were forced to choose whatâs essential and what commands our attention.
And one of those things Iâve been revisiting is the idea that one bad day doesnât need to mean all that much in the grand scheme of things.
Which is what brings me back to batting averages.
Under the best of conditions, with a singular goal and a life built around pursuing it, professional baseball players still regularly strike out more than they get on base.
So no matter what goal youâre pursuing, one bad day doesnât hurt your average all that much. It doesnât deserve your anger. It doesnât deserve all that much of your focus.
You need to work for the average. Play the full season.
From that view, even a string of bad days isnât that disruptive.
So if you feel like youâre in a slump, or that things arenât moving as quickly as youâd like, or that today is just another example of why âI cannot do The Thing That Matters To Me,â stop.
Breathe.
Remember what game youâre playing.
And remember that even Hugh âNobody Has Had A Better Single Season Batting Average Than Me In Over 100 Yearsâ Duffy wound up back on the bench more times than he got on base.
Get back up. Tap the dirt from your cleats. Keep swinging.
