[April 10, 2024] I was behind on the count at bat with two strikes and zero balls. It was also the bottom of the ninth inning, and my team was behind one run with my teammate at the hot corner, third base and potentially the tying run. On my Little League baseball team, we called this being in a pickle.
It meant I had to get a hit and score to win the game. The pressure was immense. Then it happened: whiff, a swing and a miss. “Yer Out,” screamed the umpire. As I slowly walked back to the dugout, dragging my bat, my Dad was there. “Good try, Douglas, you did your best.” Yeah, I thought, but my best was not good enough.
Another loss. Another disappointment. Another championship down the drain. But Dad told me that the reason we play games is to have fun. And to never forget that. But playing competitive games also teaches us how to lose properly. And, yes, we can lose. And, yes, we can lose gracefully without a catastrophe.
And when you do lose, we learn to get up on our feet, be a good sport, shake hands with the other team, learn to lose by being a valuable member of the team, improve our skills, help our teammates, and be present with the team for every game. Being there is sometimes more important than having excellent competitive skills.
That is how to lose and lose properly. I learned not to let the game get me down. I learned to accept the loss in a game and let those losses motivate me because losing a game is not the same as failure. You are a failure only if you quit the game, and yes, I did want to quit. I discovered that treating the loss of a game is one of the few ways I could strive for personal growth.
My Dad did not insulate me against the hard lessons that losing brings. You don’t want to be a novice at losing, especially in team sports. Now, that would be the real problem, terribly embarrassing. I couldn’t imagine being a young adult and never experienced losing. Now, that would be the real tragedy.
Dad taught me well. Losing is important. After striking out, I had a sick feeling in my stomach that I’d lost the baseball championship by myself: typical kid thinking. But I moved on to more games the following season. And my family was there beside me all the days in the baseball field of dreams.
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NOTE: “Field of Dreams” is a 1989 American sports drama film starring Kevin Costner as a farmer who builds a baseball field in his cornfield that attracts the ghosts of baseball legends. Read Roger Ebert’s review of this film here. You can see the Official Trailer here on YouTube.
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Please read my books:
“Another loss. Another disappointment. Another championship down the drain. But Dad told me that the reason we play games is to have fun. And to never forget that. But playing competitive games also teaches us how to lose properly. And, yes, we can lose. And, yes, we can lose gracefully without a catastrophe.”
Gen Douglas my friend your dad taught you well to except the loss well. It’s not all about winning It’s how you win in class and loss in class. These early life lessons makes our character as we grow up to be adults. I can tell those people who were sore loser growing up. A wise man told me you csn win the game yet still lose by your negative winning attitude at your opponents.
Well said, thank you Eddie.
Yes, well said.
Truly, another wonderful short story from the past of Gen. Satterfield. thank you sir.
Beautify story of a little Gen. Satterfield. This story plus the Letters to My Granddaughter today, sure make for a great duo of stories.
Just a quick comment to say that today’s “short story” made me smile. I’m a baseball nut, well, at least according to my wife. Keep these stories coming. I will read each one and like I did with this one, I’ll post it on the bulletin board at work. Sometimes, people write notes on them. All compliments so far.
Wow, nice idea, Danny! ✔
I love baseball.
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Gen. Satterfield wrote, “My Dad did not insulate me against the hard lessons that losing brings. ” And this is so so so true. That is what a real father does. Mothers are not likely to do this.
This lesson is so important!
“That is how to lose and lose properly. I learned not to let the game get me down. I learned to accept the loss in a game and let those losses motivate me because losing a game is not the same as failure. You are a failure only if you quit the game, and yes, I did want to quit. I discovered that treating the loss of a game is one of the few ways I could strive for personal growth.” – Gen. Doug Satterfield
And, let me be clear, this is they kind of lesson we need to be teaching children today but we are not. We are giving them trophies for finishing last. “Feeling good” about your self is NOT the answer. learning how to play in competition with others and learning that you don’t always win, is the lesson.
Indeed, great lesson.
Tom
Excellent comments.
Excellent, as expected, excellent. Being one of your longest commentators, I must say that, once again, I enjoyed anothyer one of your articles. Made me think, was entertained, and satisfied that my time was not wasted reading this short story.
Yusaf, indeed, a long relationship. Thank you!!!!!
❤ Great to hear from you Gen. Satterfield. This shows that you read our comments. ❤
Gen. Satterfield, yes, I do think we learned something here, as we learned in the other short story.
“Man Without a Gun: a Short Story
https://www.theleadermaker.com/man-without-a-gun-a-short-story/
It is not always easy to extract proper lessons from our experiences, and we most often cannot verbalize what we learned. While that is an issue to be overcome, I do think we can be smarter and learn why we do things, in order to make us do the right, legal, and moral things consciously and often.
Excellent points, Jerome. Thanks.
Nice story. Well done! Gen. Satterfield, you da man. 😊😊😊😊😊😊
These “short stories” are really good and I’m glad that I decided to read them. Only two so far, but each was good. I can see that they contain “lessons” learned for Gen. Satterfield as a little kid. A bit different from his “Letters to My Granddaughter” but similar. More than a short story but a short lesson too.
Good points Melissa. Gen. Satterfield is going out of his way to tell us what he learned and when and how those lessons effected him and his family over the years he grew up. Now to see how he ties them into him becoming a General Officer in the US Army.
A happy story, thank you Gen. Satterfield for sharing.
Yep, and one that is hard to forget.
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