Past failures drive Strasburg to be great
By Editorial Staff
Bryce Harper has been the can’t-miss prospect since Little League. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and dubbed “The Chosen One” at 16 years old.
Future teammate Stephen Strasburg was hardly a superstar as a kid. He had talent, but talent can only take a player so far. Strasburg didn’t have the work ethic or mental toughness to be great one day.
Harper was already a legend by the time he was 16. He once hit a ball out of the park, over trees, sidewalks, and a five-lane highway before landing in the desert sand. It went 517 feet.
Strasburg was a nobody coming out of high school. He wasn’t even a star in Little League.
Mike Leake, rookie pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds, played with Strasburg when they were 11.
“He was overweight, pouty and used to cry,” Leake told USA Today.
The kid with the golden arm wasn’t the best pitcher on his team because of his poor attitude, which dogged him through high school. He pointed blame towards teammates after errors and umpires after bad calls when things weren’t going his way. In tough situations, he folded.
The toughest obstacles of his life awaited him at San Diego State University. Talent wouldn’t be good enough. It couldn’t hide his shortcomings in high school. Strasburg was going to have to make a choice: fight or fold.
The challenges would go beyond opposing team’s jumping on him in the midst of a rally. The talk that would flood his ears would come daily from coaches who weren’t going to baby him.
Rusty Filter fought for Strasburg during the recruiting process, convincing head coach and baseball legend Tony Gwynn to give the kid a shot.
Filter also made things difficult for the youngster when he arrived. He told him that people expected him to fail. Strasburg showed no emotion or fire to prove the doubters wrong.
Dave Ohton, SDSU’s strength and conditioning coach, was among the doubters.
“You need to consider quitting,” Ohton said to Strasburg four years ago. You’re wasting your time.”
Ohton and Filter reached Strasburg, though. And quitting baseball would never be an option for the pitcher. He dedicated himself to baseball and worked hard in the weight room to get in great physical shape. The velocity on his fastball went from 89 mph to 98 in one year. Now, he can hit 102 mph on the gun.
The doubting coaches became his biggest believers and they were proud to have an effect that changed a kid’s life. Ohton and Filter are two of the biggest reasons Strasburg has become a household name.
“He did a complete 180. It’s amazing how he changed,” Leake said after recounting their Little League days.
The change is an incredible one. Strasburg is well on his way to becoming the folk hero and legend that he never was as a kid. The challenges and struggles along the way have only made him stronger. He is well prepared and motivated to reach his fullest potential.
Success is made up of all the failures in life. Failure pushes people to work hard for success and to appreciate it when they finally attain it.
Strasburg was never the no-it-all superstar who thought he was the best because he wasn’t always the best. The humble approach that there is always room to improve and that you’ve never arrived serves a professional athlete well. It keeps them grounded and hungry.
Strasburg always had that hunger even when he couldn’t feel it. And he always will. While he has all the talent in the world, that hunger is what will make him great. It’s a feeling that has to be learned. He learned it in the weight room and on the mound in college. Failure smacked him in the mouth and he kept moving forward. He never quit until he was the aggressor again.
Bryce Harper, no matter how talented, has never had that hunger. He’s never experienced failure. In baseball, he certainly will face failure. Forget about the 517-foot home runs and the astronomical statistics, Harper has not arrived. Now, he just needs to understand that.
He’s saying all the right things and he has the drive to be great, but will he ever attain that hunger?
That remains to be seen.
He only knows success. In Little League, he was the best. In high school, he was the best. Ditto for junior college. One day, he won’t be. And how he responds on that day will define his career and his legacy. The one that everyone will remember.
Harper only needs to remember one thing to handle that day.
“Success is never final; failure is never fatal.”
The great John Wooden left us with that advice along with many others that can be used in life.
In short, it means that everything one has accomplished to a certain point means nothing. Harper has done nothing that matters for future success. Resting on his laurels will be the end of that success.
If that success ends, though, it’s not the end of the world. When Harper goes into a 1-for-20 slump in Triple-A or in Washington, he can fight to turn it around. Adversity will only make him stronger. Battling out of a slump will be a new kind of success called resiliency.
The end of the quote is most important.
Courage to fight failure and overcome it is where success lies.
Strasburg found the courage to ignore the preconceived notions and the past struggles to satisfy his hunger for success. He’s showing courage in the face of great expectations, remaining humble after a record-setting start to a career and giving credit to teammates.
A challenging road lies ahead for Harper. He may have to change his batting stance or his position or his routine to find success.
Strasburg found success when he changed. When he made a “complete 180,” he began on his path to greatness.