Alec Bohm : Dealing w/ Failure

I had the privilage of being Alec Bohm's teammate back in 2016 & have got to see just how good a player he is. Offensively, there have never been doubts about his ability. The kid can rake. Defensively, not so much. When we were teammates Bohm was going through an identity crisis. He couldn't play 3rd, he was uncomfortable at 1st and he was too good of an athlete to DH all the time. 

When I say he was a liability in the field, I mean it. But one thing always struck me was he never seemed to panic about it. Even when scout were there to draft the future 1st rounder and he would make a few bad errors, he took it in stride and always seemed like he knew he had room to improve and that it was going to take time. 

I think you see that same attitude in this video. Stoic in the face of adversity is the most mature mindset an athlete can have. 

I love a few of the ideas in this interview and I will list out my top 3 takeaways below: 

1. Don't panic. You can't fix what just happened, so there's no need to stress out about it. Turn the page and show up tomorrow ready to work on your shortcomings. Be patient with yourself. 

2. This game is hard. If you play enough games it stands to reason that some days you will suck. Cut yourself some slack and keep your head up. How you handle the bad days says way more about your character than how you handle the good. 

3. Never believe you are in a slump. The mind manifests its own success and issues. The moment you start believing you can't do it, you will be right. The mindset to have is to think about your career averages. "Ok, I am at worst an .800 fielder. I made 2 errors in the 1st inning, that means statistically I will make the next 8." Manifest your own success not your own downfall. 

Alec Bohm is a great example of what maturity can do to a career. Notice he never made an excuse, he took ownership of everything and simply said. "Today I sucked - flush it - tomorrow I go again."

-Mike Castellani