There is a theory in baseball that says:

• you are going to win 20% of your games
• you are going to lose 20% of your games
• 60% of the games are up for grabs

(This, of course, assumes that you are playing at the correct level of competition.)

Another big caveat is that you never know what kind of game it is until it plays out.

Great teams win the games that are up for grabs and end up winning 2 out of three games.  Weak teams fail to win games that are up for grabs, and end up with a .300 winning percentage.  Average teams kind of just flip coin, win some, lose some and end up close to .500.

Part of team identity is choosing whether you are going to really battle for every game that is up for grabs (like 2 of our opponents this past weekend, sending us home early), or are you going to just settle for a coin flip.

You can learn a lot about yourself by watching other teams.

So, the next time a opposing coach yells “That’s what we needed!!” after a player hits a 2 run bomb when his team is down 6-1, maybe our guys will not laugh and make fun of him.  Maybe next time they will strap on their batting gloves and start competing. Going through the motions is not going to work in games that are up for grabs.