A Great Analogy for ME!

I was thinking about the upcoming softball season here in Central Ohio. I thought about how I will most likely end up pitching for one of the teams I plan to play with this summer. Apparently one member of the team thinks I "want" to pitch. Not sure how that got in his head since that is not the case but it's cool. I keep saying I'll play anywhere and I will so whatever. I just like playing. Some positions are more fun than others but I try to be a team player (another thing this particular teammate seems to disagree with).

To my point, I do not mind pitching and therefore find myself doing just that...pitching. I don't ask to be the pitcher, I just end up doing it. (Unless of course that is my way on the team) The reason is not because I am any good at it. There are much better pitchers than I. Let's face it, pitching in softball is not a thing of great skill or athleticism. You just lob the ball over the plate. And I have neither of the aforementioned traits.

But I think it is very difficult to be a good softball pitcher. We had a guy, Eddie, who was a good softball pitcher but physical limitations have gotten the best of the poor guy. On the other hand, it is very easy to be a bad pitcher. For example, you cannot strike guys out in softball really, but you sure can walk a ton of guys. There is nothing much worse for a fielder than to sit out there helpless to the endless parade of opponents walking around the diamond scoring run after run with no chance to get an out. Trust me. I have been there. And it is worse when they are bunch of "softball guys" that look like jackasses in the dugout talking about it with their Oakley's on and barbed wire tats and four wristbands up and down their arms.

My point to this post is that I fit right in the middle. Not skillful and tricky like Steady Eddie, the wiley ol' vet, but not the merry-go-round pitcher from my first years in Hilliard. Not the hockey goalie Jeremy from our champion year, but not the boring walk-a-thon that led to mercy after mercy. This seems to mirror me in real life. I can't claim to be good at anything. No trophies, awards, accomplishments or stories to brag about, but for the most part I have been good enough to belong on the field. Or at least in the team picture as they say nowadays.

King of Mediocrity I suppose. Doesn't sound too flattering does it? Well, as long as I get to keep playing, I'm good. People and experiences. That is what it's all about my friends. People and experiences.