Reaching Professional Status
September is an exciting time of the year for professional sports. The professional golf season has just concluded. Professional baseball is in full swing as teams have their eyes on the upcoming world series. Professional football season has just started. Professional tennis players are playing at the US Open in New York.
When you think of professional baseball players, who do you think of? My earliest memories of professional baseball players include people like Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Ted Williams. Why Ted Williams?
According to Wikipedia, Ted Williams played his entire 19-year Major League Baseball career, primarily as a left fielder, for the Boston Red Sox (1939 to 1960). As far as I know I never saw him play.
So why was Ted Williams one of my favorite baseball players and sports figures? Because of the Sears and Roebuck Catalog. I used to love looking at that catalog. As I turned the pages I would dream of a day when I had enough money to buy some of the things I saw there. When it came to sports items, and other items, Ted Williams picture and name was everywhere.
According to Sports Illustrated, Ted Williams endorsed products for one simple reason. “To add a cold, professional viewpoint on the quality of every piece of Sears sports equipment before it gets into the Sears catalog or any one of the 740 Sears department stores.”
But it wasn’t just his name. Ted Williams was described as a working consultant. He helped Sears select the sports items it sold. He personally field-tested those items. If he saw a flaw or a weakness, he made suggestions for improvements. In those days Sears had an intense desire to be a leader in the sale of sporting goods. But his endorsements did not stop there. He might recommend better wheels for a camping trailer or lighter soles for hunting boots. In those days, if Ted Williams put his name on it, the item was absolutely first-rate.
However, as far as sports history is concerned, the reason why he is still remembered today is, he is regarded as one of the greatest hitters in baseball history. To date he is the last player to hit over .400 in a season. His .482 on-base percentage is the highest of all time.
In the book No Easy Way, you can read that as a boy, Ted Williams wanted to be the best hitter ever. He perfected what became known as “The Science of Hitting.” His first commandment was "Get a good pitch to hit." But how could he carry out his own commandment?
He devised a mental picture of the strike zone. Within that strike zone he imagined 77 baseballs, seven wide by eleven high. He determined what he called his "happy zone" which was the heart of the plate belt high. That’s how he became the last professional batter to break the magic .400 barrier.
I believe Ted Williams teaches us that it takes three things to be a professional. You must have God-given abilities, you must maximize those abilities, and you must have an unflappable commitment to be the best you can be. Let’s all strive for those things as we seek to live our lives for the glory of God.
