Your First At-Bat Isn't Your Last
What a great week last week of Big League baseball. An inter-state, division rivalry for the ALCS and two teams that couldn't be built more differently for the NLCS. Both series taking all the "if necessary's" off the schedule going for 7 games. If you watch these games, there are so many little things to note over the course of them. How much momentum plays a role in playoff games and how each at-bat and pitch is so critical.
The one thing I want to focus on today, is again, based on a conversation that occurred at our session. In part of the conversation regarding staying positive (Extra Hacks Conversation From 10/19), I brought up how a player's first at-bat can't dictate his entire day. This means that when you're 0-1, your day isn't over. You don't want to be the player that needs to get a hit in his first at bat to have a good day. Don't be the player who goes 3-4 with a homer or 0-4 with 4 strikeouts. Find a way on your bad days to grind out a walk, or better yet, find a way to make that at bat count for the most.
Garcia's Wild Night
This brings us to the prime example we saw the other night: Adolis Garcia. Say what you want about the antics he brought to the ALCS. He obviously had a great series as he clubbed 5 homers and was named the ALCS MVP. What he's going to be most remembered for in the series (aside from the HBP leading to multiple ejections) is the grand slam that essentially closed out Game 6. Here's that moment:
You've probably already knew this happened, if you watched the game or not. What you probably don't know is what he did in his previous 4 at bats. Here are the summaries of the at bats prior:
Garcia was 0-4, with 4 strikeouts and quite a few chases on his charts. It's hard to qualify any of these as "good at bats". However, the lesson to be learned here is that despite having an objectively awful day, there was still a chance for him to atone in the biggest moment of the game. In your career, you are going to have an 0-4 day. What separates you from the next guy is how you handle that failure. This can be from a game to game or at-bat to at-bat standpoint.
Confidence
This is part of what makes these guys at the big league level so good. Despite having a bad day, their confidence doesn't waver. They truly believe that every time they are up to hit, they are "due". When you get a chance, go back and take a look at your game log from last year. Check out how many games you didn't get a hit in your first at-bat. Then ask yourself what you did in the subsequent at-bats in that game.
Don't be the person that allows your first at-bat to dictate your day, because it's normally not your last!
