I am not a fan of baseball. I have watched a few games through the years and I have developed this love and hate relationship with the game.

What I hate about baseball the most is the fact that they play 162 games in a season. The season lasts forever. As a result a team can lose a lot of games and still make the playoffs. Last year the world series champion KC Royals ended the season with a 95-67 record. That means that more than one third of the time they took the field the team lost.

Then there are the players. I great hitter bats between 300-400. That means they only hit the ball three out of ten times at bat. In other words, seven times they walk to the plate and do not get on base. And those are the great players. An average to poor player has lower numbers, that means he hits less than two times for every ten trips to the plate.

I hate that. I want superior performance.

What I love about baseball is that they play 162 games. A team can lose a game and it will not derail their season. Last year’s best team lost 67 games in their season.

And then there are the players. They hit the ball only two or three times for every ten times they walk to the plate. They can get our seven times and still be great.

I love that. I love the ability to fail and still win.

I find that baseball closely resembles life more than other sports. Life is not a short season where every tiny event matters. Life is about stepping up to the plate and getting out over and over. It is about losing repeatedly in spite of our best efforts. The hope is not that we will never lose or strike out, the hope is that we will win more than we lose and occasionally we will get on base. Life is about forgetting the last at bat and the last lost and pushing forward.

Maybe you are going through a tough period in your life. Everything seems to be going wrong. Don’t give up. Today might be the day you get a hit. Step up, take your swings and remember that even the greatest players get out a lot and the best teams lose almost as much as they win. Today might be your day. If not, then maybe tomorrow. Keep swinging. Good things will come eventually.