The Fundamentals by Caleb

The Fundamentals by Caleb - October 2019 Scholarship Essay

I walk back to the dugout after a tough loss. I feel emotional but I’m eager to hear what the coaches have to say especially my grandpa. “Gentleman, we have some work to do. We need to continue to focus on the fundamentals. We aren’t moving our feet to get in front of the ball and we continue to throw the ball around. From that standpoint we aren’t fully locked in,” explains my grandpa.
My grandpa always talks about the fundamentals. I love it. He says that fundamentals are the foundation of life and you shouldn’t build anything on a weak foundation. He tells me that there are fundamentals in baseball and in life and if I can master them then everything else begins to fall into place. The little things in life are what he focuses on the most like having a positive attitude and taking responsibility for your actions. He hates when people make excuses and says that “Excuses are like a butt. Everyone’s got one and all of them stink.” It’s a funny quote that holds a lot of truth and has shown the importance of owning my mistakes. These things have been drilled into my head for years but I never get tired of hearing them. I hear stories of players on tv who didn’t set their feet before they threw and threw the ball away or players who took their eye off the ball and missed it. All of these stories were meant to caution me not to repeat their mistakes and to teach me that without a strong base you are nothing.
I’ve heard these things for years but it really hit me when I started to grow up that the things that he said were true. When I first began playing baseball I had no idea what I was doing and I couldn’t throw the ball straight to save my life. He worked with me tirelessly stressing the basics and explaining to me why we did them and how it helped. I slowly picked up the things that he said and eventually began to throw the ball with ease. I began to learn why the fundamentals were so important. My grandpa taught me all about the game but also taught me things about myself. He told me that the fundamental trait of any successful person is a strong work ethic in everything that they do. I could have the best work ethic on the field but if I didn’t work hard in the classroom than I wouldn’t be able to play on the field. The fundamental job of school is not to make me a great athlete but to teach me the basic skills I need to succeed.
He always looked out for me even if I didn’t like it. I once tried to buy a new stereo for my truck when I should have been saving for new tires and he just looked at me and sighed. He then explained to me that if I wanted to be able to have a truck with a nice stereo that I could show off then I needed to make sure that it still ran. I felt stupid after saying that to him but I was happy to have been steered in the right direction. After he told me that a fool and his money will soon be separated and from then on I tried to save as much as I could.
My grandpa told me that everything in life has basics and if you master the basics you can succeed and continue to grow. Think of it like a house. A house with a solid concrete foundation will last for years through renovations, weather storms, and normal everyday wear. But a house with a weak foundation could collapse on itself at any moment. It’s just like life. If you learn to do things the right way you can do anything after that but if you just focus on the things that are easy than you’ve built a house of cards that will soon crumble.