Babe Adams
If I said Babe and Baseball in the same sentence, one person would come to mind. For most of my life, my favorite Baseball player was the man known as The Great Bambino Babe Ruth. However there was another Babe in Baseball.
He was Babe Adam’s of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Both were World Series Champions, each a record holder. Babe Adams’ 1920 record of 1 walk per 14.6 innings wasn’t broken until 2005.
After leaving Baseball in 1926 as a player, he would go on to be a Minor League Coach and Farmer. Following those occupations, he served as War Correspondent in both World War II and Korea. The two Babe’s careers were very different, but each made an impact in Baseball.
As far as ego, I find no record of direct competition between the two men. They both were busy doing what they were good at. For that matter their success was not about them, but about the team’s victory. Only a team can win a World Series, not a player, no matter how talented.
Today is the 139th anniversary of Babe Adams’ birth, a man who ran his own course.
We should never be in direct competition with someone else, but with ourself. In any field you may be competing for the same prize as someone else, but it should never be about beating them.
It’s about equipping yourself to be the best team player you can be, for the good of the team. Helping others to succeed benefits everyone. Challenging yourself, rather than comparing yourself to everyone else, helps you become the best you, that you can be.
As a result, Babe Adams stepped into arenas Babe Ruth never did. He saw things through his own eyes, that the Bambino never had the opportunity too. It’s not that either’s journey was better, but that they played their own game.
Baseball fans spout a lot of stats, but the fact is this. A player’s average is made up of the hits and misses they make, not what someone else does. So I would encourage you today, don’t worry because you have a different style as someone else, just make sure you’re being the best you, that you can be. Do this, and you’ll help others win more together, than you ever could on your own.