The Best Hitter that You Can Be!

Can any ball player be the best batter without striving for perfection? It is very unlikely that one’s natural ability alone will entitle him to the position of a prominent Major League Hitter. To attain the status of a “Big-Leaguer”, a naturally phenomenal athlete must refine what might be considered his undisciplined “artistic” talents, and nurture them under the auspices of an established tutelary principle. However, Professional Baseball hasn’t yet established such a principle by which aspiring young athletes (batters) can easily transform their crude, individually designated operational mechanisms into the precisely fine-tuned generic machinery for which their consistent productivity would certainly be validated and universally appreciated. What is currently in practice is a trial and error forum that culminates in either pronounced enhancement or deterioration, according to the sensitive responsiveness of the applicant for development. “Many are called, but few are chosen!”

There is enough practical evidence to preclude the possibility that anyone could actually attain the status of Perfection, at-bat. However, is it not reasonable to imagine that the current standard for excellence in batting could be significantly advanced, were it not for the arrogant or narrow-minded presumption that nothing more can be done by scientifically reducing all margins for technical error?

Although the most proficient of batters are they who strive to be the best that they can be, and espouse the most rigorous of physical regimens in order to sustain a productive readiness, if the principle to which they commit their efforts is not founded on an exact science, then the results of those efforts will be highly imperfect at best, and ultimately discouraging to earnest seekers for optimal accomplishment. If the practice of an imperfect principle is what diminishes the quality of their work as a batter, would it not be conducive to their betterment to explore and find the principle that promotes the most consistent success?  Excellence can be achieved as a goal only if excellence is the starting point from which to proceed.

Aristotle pointed out, in his Nicomachean Ethics, that, in order to begin a study of anything that would lead to the highest understanding and demonstration of its universal verity, one must “behold” an example of a closest facsimile to the ideal estate, study its admirable characteristics, and extrapolate from its obvious functional proficiency a common entity by which a generic standard could be discerned, duplicated, and possibly expanded upon. Then Excellence in any field of human endeavor is achievable to anyone willing to devote a “heart and soul” effort toward mastering the definable concomitants to successful enterprise.

But what if a concrete example of definable perfection can not be found and emulated? If one searches unsuccessfully for a tangible reference point from which to exploit a specific enterprise, all is not lost if he rests his constructive hope in the ever-inexhaustible realm of mind (consciousness). Surely, if one had the aptitude, he could glean some resolve from the intent of a famous quote, whose paraphrase would read as such: “Some people see the imperfect things of the world, and wonder why? But I envision the perfect things not yet present in the world, and wonder why not?”  When Michaelangelo was asked how he could create such beautiful sculpture from a block of stone, he replied, “The sculpture’s beauty was always there. I merely chiseled away the debris from off its form”. He must have known the form of the image before it was made evident by his handiwork.

An astutely perceptive mind could visualize those attributes closely aligned to the proper mechanics of the flawless expression of the perfect swing of the bat. Mark the perfection in thought, and behold its expression in action: for the end result is beautiful efficiency. And the “Hope” of success is inspired from the confidence which issues forth from one’s understanding of the principle that expedites the most precisely scientific demonstration of function. Confidence, an intangible element, is acquired through an absolute faith in the principle from which a batter bases his ability to produce the stroke that can be applied consistently in any given situation in the “box”, during a game. Is there anything close to the “Perfect Principle” for achieving maximum success in batting?

Perfection on a human level is most improbable, as an axiom from a “Quantum” analysis has suitably implied, “at the fundamental levels of matter, causation is a matter of statistical probabilities, not certainties”. But when the margins for error are attenuated, the probability of success is proportionately increased. Taking Aristotle’s proposal into consideration, an astute batting analyst should certainly acknowledge the primary, near-perfect facilitators of excellence to be Barry Bonds (as well as Ted Williams).

Coming: The Greatest Hitter!