In Little League baseball, I used to stand in the ready position, like everyone else, but I would be chanting, “please don’t hit it to me, please don’t hit it to me.” I learned later that most of my teammates where thinking the same thing. I was afraid I would muff the catch or would somehow make the catch but throw to the wrong base. I outgrew the fear by becoming competent,
even good, and by determining in advance where to throw the ball, depending on the count and the base runners. In my last year of baseball, I wanted every ball. I used to think batters were sissies when they hit away from me.
Not to compare us, but Michael Jordan was known for wanting the ball, especially when time was running out and his team was behind. He knew he was going to score, his teammates knew, his opponents knew, everyone watching on TV knew he was going to take the shot. But was more than talented, more than mentally tough. They say he always came early to practice and always stayed late, shooting, shooting, shooting. He knew he would score because he had already done it thousands of times.
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