What No One Tells You About Dating Baseball
Yes I did say dating baseball. No I did not mean dating a baseball player. I meant dating baseball. Because I’m literally dating baseball.
7 dates a week- with me, my TV & a candle. If I’m real lucky, I may even get to watch from the field. I spend so much quality time with baseball. We have gotten to know each other very well these past few years.
Growing up, I fell in love with hockey. It’s fast paced, lively & energetic feel. Hockey was a huge part of my life as a kid, but what I didn’t know was that baseball would eventually become my world.
Connor was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2012. Flash forward to six years & seven seasons later, and here we are about to embark on this new journey called free agency (AKA his original contract is ending & where are we going next?).
Over the last two years of dating baseball, I have learned a lot of insight with the world of professional sports. And let me tell you, no one can prepare you for it. Listen, I’m not going to pretend that I know what Connor goes through as a player. I will never be able to fully know what that is like. But I can sure as heck grasp a good concept of the feelings that the majority of us women in the stands & at home are feeling on a day to day basis.
There is so much pride that comes with watching the one you love following their dreams whole heartedly. I beam with joy each time I see Connor take the field. He is one day and one step closer to accomplishing his greatest childhood goal. But with that being said, each game comes with anxiety, with stress, with excitement, with happiness, did I mention stress, and with feeling proud. But what everyone knows but no one really tells you, is that dating a player is to date the game. It is a lifestyle. It is a commitment. It is a decision.
Connor is at work when he is on that field. Each day, I sit and watch him work. For 180 or so days in a row I watch him work. I can’t imagine any other job outside of sports that lets thousands or millions of your closest friends zoom in to watch you succeed, or to watch you fail, depending on what day it is. You see, to have a .300 batting average in baseball (a very good one), you have to fail 70% of the time. And in this sport, failing 70% of the time for seven days in a row makes you an above average player.
As a teacher, we consider “average” a C, or a 70%. But that is 70% correct, not 70% wrong. To be an above average baseball player with a .300 batting average, you succeed at a rate of 30%, failing to do what you’re standing at the plate to do 70% of the time. And to me that sounds like a lot of failure.
I watch Connor and his friends work every day. I can’t imagine him or anyone else for that matter watching me through a microscope at my job. Although it would be nice to share in the success, I sure as heck do not want anyone there at my lowest point, or the moments I feel like a failure as a teacher. When I feel like melting down because I worked so hard during late hours of the night to prepare plans that I’m confident will be successful, and my students continue to fail the concepts. The moments I want to hide in the corner of my office from a conference when I know the unhappy parents are on their way to complain about something else they don’t like. The moments I feel down and low, and when I feel like I have no control over the children in my own classroom. I sure as heck do not want others witnessing my lowest moments.
Baseball is a job. It’s work. However, it’s a dream. Connor was drafted but he signed up for this when he signed that contract. He agreed to be praised publicly, but he also agreed to the scrutiny. But it doesn’t make it any easier. Each day is different and with anything in life it comes with it’s ups and downs. We love this life. We thrive in it and we enjoy it. But again, that doesn’t make it any easier.
When I started dating baseball, I was told to enjoy the ride, to meet the incredible women in the stands, to let Connor continue to crush his dreams and for me to let him fly while simply offering my support. I was told to encourage him and love on him no matter what. That part is easy. He is the easiest person to love on this planet.
When I started dating baseball, no one told me I needed to learn to accept the game of failure. Because with baseball comes a success rate of 30%, a 70% failure rate. And in this sport, that failure rate is a successfully above average player. Let me tell you, that is hard to learn, and failure is hard to accept. Nevertheless, baseball has been a great life lesson and I can’t imagine our lives any other way.
Note: On this date, Mookie Betts for the Boston Red Sox currently holds the highest batting average for Major League Baseball at .351, with the next in line Jose Altuve for the Houston Astros at .328. These men are the most successful hitters in the MLB this season to date, failing at their job to get a base hit 65% and 67% of the time respectively.
"Baseball is the only field of endeavor where a man can succeed three times out of ten and be considered a good performer." - Ted Williams in The 2006 ESPN Baseball Encyclopedia