Baseball is a Connector.

In the mind of a pitcher...well, in the mind of this pitcher...

I love baseball. I love feeling the ball in my hand. I love having the hand control over years of experience and practice to move the ball around with my fingers as I hold different grips with my eyes closed as if I have such a connection with the ball that it feels like it is an extension of my hand. I love the days the ball feels like it is a bullet firing from a gun, and I love the days that I feel like I can hit my spot with my eyes closed. Those are the days where everything just works. It syncs. You feel powerful, like nobody can touch you. I absolutely love executing a plan from start to finish and making a hitter...as we call it...TAKE A SEAT!!! (aka strikeout looking on a painted fastball on the black...you know that pitch that the hitter walks to the dugout thinking, "what just happened?!" as I have already received the ball and am back on the mound, ready for my next victim.)

I love the opportunity to be able to check in with how lucky I am EVEryday to step on to the field and to have a healthy, strong, able body...because there are so many out there that not only are unable to have the means or resources to experience this great game, but there are so many who don't even have the ability to walk with the potential cards they have been dealt. I love the fact that I get the chance to realize this EVEry single day I live. I get this chance to realize each and EVEry time I am on the line for the national anthem or I am feeling the scratchy grass on my back and legs as I go through my stretch and functional movement routines in a random park by myself with just my music. I love the emotional connection I have with the game, I love the chance I get to meet potentially new and positive, potentially life changing team mates when I start with a new team. I love how much of an effect we all have on each other when we're playing. 

I love seeing parents who genuinely care about their youth players and when they support them through and through. It is really kind of amazing some of the stuff you see parents do for their kids as a youth coach. They drive everywhere, they sacrifice anytime potential time of their own just for the chance to be there to support their kids dream and watch them progress. There is a superhuman element of connectedness that baseball brings to the world. Is it just a game? Is it just a field with tightly wound balls, very well-designed sticks, and well put together pieces of leather? Or is it a chance to check in with the value of our lives and a battlefield for Motivation, Appreciation, and Dedication EVEryday in order to become a MADE person? 

Baseball makes us stronger because it makes us connect to something. It gives us a chance to improve as healthy athletes, and more importantly as healthy people. All the decisions we make on a daily basis are the aggregation of habits the make us who we are. The stronger we connect, the more we appreciate. The more we appreciate EVEry opportunity to Get Better the more we accelerate the excellence that we call our lives. The more excellent our lives...well, the more we can help other people at achieving excellence and the more our EVErydays will be filled to the brim with the potential that life has in store for us. Adapting this state of mind makes you feel like YOU CAN jump higher, run faster, eat healthier, be more aggressive and confident on the field...and just plain be a better human from the inside out. Baseball is a connection to the fire in our bellies to be better. 

With all this power behind my pitch...you don't want to step near my plate. 

Get Better EVEryday,

Isaac Hess

www.madebaseball.com