Nothing and I mean nothing has taught me more about life than baseball (sorry Nick, I can't surf). Today is one of those feel good days when two of my all time favorite players got elected to The Baseball Hall of Fame. Cal Ripken Jr. was someone we all new we'd see when we went to games at Memorial Stadium and later, Camden Yard. Do I need to quote stats? I doubt that any of you have been in a cave, but let's just say he got up and went to work every day and did what he was supposed to do and loved to do. He honed his skills, he helped others learn the game, hone their skills, he had a loyalty to his brand and his teammates his family and his fans.
Tony Gwynn played for the Padres his entire career. He was not a flashy player but he was an excellent athlete with a terrific work ethic and a winning personality that made everyone else on the team want to play with him (just read articles about him you will see what I mean.) I had less opportunity to watch him play, but I loved it when I could. Jon Miller used to be the Orioles announcer and when he went to ESPN I loved hearing him call the games when the Padres were featured, he ALWAYS focused on Tony Gwynn.
What did these two guys do that has anything to do with us? They learned their trade, they worked hard, they were more concerned about professionalism than money (at least relative to other players in the game). They excelled, they taught others, and they never gave up. I know it may seem like a stretch to feature them in a post about real estate, but think about it. We don't have to be flashy, we can be ourselves and learn everything we need to know about our neighborhoods. We can figure out what our niches are. For Ripken it was a niche he didn't seek, shortstop! But once he had it, he ran with it and perfected it. I thought I wanted to sell high end historic homes. It turns out I like combining my love of community development with neighborhood sales much better. So I can think of Cal and keep working at my trade. Tony Gwynn has talked a lot about his need to have a schedule, he was like Cal in that way. He talked about consistency, getting out of the house on schedule for each game, he knew he needed time to prepare for what he was about to do: and it was important to him to keep practicing and excelling up until the day he retired. I'm an independent contractor but if I don't treat what I do like a profession I know I will undercut myself and my clients. That's not acceptable. It was never acceptable for Tony Gwynn or Cal Ripken Jr.
I can learn good things and bad things from baseball. Today I get to learn the warm and fuzzy stuff as two class acts got elected to the Hall of Fame. Thank the gods it's only a few weeks until Spring Training. Oh, and thanks Tony and Cal for reminding me I have to hit my planner to get ready for tomorrow's workday.
Peace Out - 3C
Comments(51)