Ted Williams was a young boy full of ambition and energy who loved baseball. He was about 6-years-old when he decided that he wanted to be known as “The Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived.” Rather than daydream about this fantasy, he immediately set out to make it a reality.
He swung a bat hundreds upon hundreds of times each day, whether aiming at imaginary targets or hitting rocks and balls and other pitched objects. If it could be thrown, Williams hit it. He took his lunch money and hired other kids as his batting practice pitchers. He often showed up at his neighborhood sandlot at the crack of dawn and remained there until the sun set. He woke up in the middle of the night and took practice swings in the dark. At school, he took rolled-up newspapers and swung them in-between, during, and sometimes instead of, class. He became known as “The Kid,” i.e., “he’s the kid that is always swinging a bat.”
His hands blistered and cracked and bled and ached. Williams taped his wounds and continued to swing. When his bats broke, he taped them together or swung the remnants. He hit baseballs until they fell apart under the strain then taped them and continued to swing. He swung his bat every day, come rain, shine, heat, cold or fatigue. He made a choice to be great, and did everything in his power to fulfill his destiny. Many fans, historians, peers and sportswriters agree that he achieved his objective.
Make the choice to be great!
From September 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com
He swung a bat hundreds upon hundreds of times each day, whether aiming at imaginary targets or hitting rocks and balls and other pitched objects. If it could be thrown, Williams hit it. He took his lunch money and hired other kids as his batting practice pitchers. He often showed up at his neighborhood sandlot at the crack of dawn and remained there until the sun set. He woke up in the middle of the night and took practice swings in the dark. At school, he took rolled-up newspapers and swung them in-between, during, and sometimes instead of, class. He became known as “The Kid,” i.e., “he’s the kid that is always swinging a bat.”
His hands blistered and cracked and bled and ached. Williams taped his wounds and continued to swing. When his bats broke, he taped them together or swung the remnants. He hit baseballs until they fell apart under the strain then taped them and continued to swing. He swung his bat every day, come rain, shine, heat, cold or fatigue. He made a choice to be great, and did everything in his power to fulfill his destiny. Many fans, historians, peers and sportswriters agree that he achieved his objective.
Make the choice to be great!
From September 2010, http://raising-a-man.tumblr.com