My dad wasn't a power hitter, and I didn't think I'd be a power hitter because the person I wanted to be like was him, and he was the one that taught me to play the game.
Ken Griffey, Jr.Read
When I came home, my kids wouldn't know if I went 0-for-4 or 4-for-4. I do not like to lose at anything, but I wouldn't be angry all day... Once I left the stadium, it was over with.
Interpretation
Winning and losing are important in sports, but they shouldn't affect how we relate to loved ones.
In this quote, Ken Griffey Jr. emphasizes the importance of separating professional challenges from personal life. He acknowledges his competitive nature and desire to win but also understands that once the game is over, it has no bearing on his relationships with his children. This perspective highlights the significance of keeping personal emotions in check and prioritizing family over the pressures of competition.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a discussion about sportsmanship and parenting.
My dad wasn't a power hitter, and I didn't think I'd be a power hitter because the person I wanted to be like was him, and he was the one that taught me to play the game.
No one is perfect. Your ERA is not zero. You're not going to have 30 wins. And your batting average isn't going to be 1.000. So you don't have the right to verbally talk out about somebody. Look at yourself. Did you do everything you could do? Did you start your day off right? Are you perfect?
I was just putting way too much pressure on myself. I was just trying to get that validation from my dad. It got so bad I remember my high school coach telling him not to show up to games.
As long as I have fun playing, the stats will take care of themselves.
Hard work doesn't start during the game. Hard work starts the night before.
Just because I made it look easy doesn't mean that it was and you don't work hard and become a Hall of Famer without working day in and day out.
I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited.
Life is so tough. I don't know how old you are, but I've seen so much in a wink. One phone call and your life is changed forever. We all know that. You better laugh at everything.
One day in the afternoon of the world, glum death will come and sit in you, and when you get up to walk, you will be as glum as death, but if you're lucky, this will only make the fun better and the love greater.
A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
I became quietly seized with that nostalgia that overcomes you when you have reached the middle of your life and your father has recently died and it dawns on you that when he went he took some of you with him.
You live long enough, you lose enough people, you learn to appreciate the memories you have and stop begrudging the ones you never got to make.
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