WE GO TO THE MOON

In this episode, JP talks about reaching for "the impossible" -- and how embracing "successful failures" is the key to overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds whether you are a NASA astronaut or an MLB hitter. 

Transcript

WELCOME TO EPISODE THREE: WE GO TO THE MOON! 

A FEW YEARS AGO, MY OLDER SON AND I VISITED THE KENNEDY SPACE CENTER AT MERRITT ISLAND, FLORIDA. HE WAS 13 THEN AND THE TWO OF US BROKE AWAY FROM THE REST OF THE FAMILY AT THE BEACH TO STEAL SOME FATHER-SON TIME. UNFORTUNATELY, ONE OF MY BIG LEAGUE HITTERS WAS GOING THROUGH A ROUGH PATCH THAT SUMMER AND I HAD TO TAKE A CALL TO HELP HIM CRAFT A VIABLE GAME PLAN FOR THAT NIGHT’S OPPONENT. IT WAS A SCENARIO MY SON WAS ACCUSTOMED TO — SO HE LET ME OFF THE HOOK WITH A SMILE AND STROLLED TO A NEARBY EXHIBIT LINED WITH ONLOOKERS. I WATCHED AS HE STAYED FIXATED ON THE EXHIBIT’S CONTENT AS VISITORS CAME AND WENT AROUND HIM. 

A FEW MINUTES LATER I WRAPPED UP MY CALL AND WALKED OVER TO SEE WHAT HAD CAPTURED HIS IMAGINATION…

IT WAS AN HISTORIC VIDEO PRESENTATION OF PRESIDENT KENNEDY’S SPACE RACE SPEECH GIVEN AT RICE UNIVERSITY IN SEPTEMBER OF 1962. IT WAS A SUPER-CHARGED PERIOD FOR THE UNITED STATES AS WE WERE FACE-TO-FACE WITH THE SOVIET UNION IN THE HEART OF THE COLD WAR. AND WE WERE ALSO TRAILING THE SOVIETS IN THE SPACE RACE AS THEY’D SENT SPUTNIK INTO ORBIT FIVE YEARS EARLIER. TO FURTHER THE DRAMA, TWO MONTHS AFTER KENNEDY MADE THIS ICONIC SPEECH… AMERICA WOULD TEETER ON THE BRINK OF NUCLEAR WAR DURING THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS. 

BUT IT WAS THIS SPEECH, THE MESSAGE THAT IT HELD, AND THE SPIRIT IN WHICH IT WAS DELIVERED THAT ELEVATED AMERICA THROUGH THAT FEARFUL TIME AND ULTIMATELY LAUNCHED US INTO THE COSMOS. AND IT IS THIS SPEECH THAT ALSO RESONATED DEEPLY WITH MY SON AND ME. AND YES, I ASSURE YOU, IT HAS BIG-TIME HITTING IMPLICATIONS. 

SO I’LL PLAY THE HEART OF THAT SPEECH FOR YOU NOW:

But why, some say, the Moon? Why choose this as our goal? And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? Why, 35 years ago, fly the Atlantic? Why does Rice play Texas? We choose to go to the Moon. We choose to go to the Moon... We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win.

LATER THAT DAY, ON THE RIDE HOME, DESPITE MY SON HAVING SEEN SOME TRULY UNFORGETTABLE EXHIBITS, INCLUDING THE ICONIC SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS AND THE MASSIVE SATURN V MOON ROCKET — IT WAS THAT SPEECH THAT STUCK WITH HIM AS HE SAID TO ME:

“PRESIDENT KENNEDY COULD HAVE BEEN TALKING ABOUT HITTING, DAD.

”I TOOK A SECOND TO CONSIDER IT. 

MAN, HE WAS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. 

THINK ABOUT IT…

WE GO TO THE PLATE — NOT BECAUSE IT IS EASY, BUT BECAUSE IT IS HARD. BECAUSE THAT GOAL SERVES TO ORGANIZE AND MEASURE THE BEST OF OUR ENERGIES AND SKILLS. 

BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING QUITE LIKE SQUARING UP A BASEBALL. IT’S LIKE A TUNING FORK IS STRUCK INSIDE OF US — HITTING THE PERFECT INTERNAL NOTE. TIME STOPS. EVERYTHING IS ALIGNED. WE ARE CONNECTED TO THE WORLD. AND THE BALL’S FLIGHT IS A DIRECT EXPRESSION OF OUR DEEPEST TALENTS AND CAPABILITIES.

HITTING REQUIRES THE FULL SCOPE OF OUR FACULTIES AND ABILITIES IN ORDER TO BE SUCCESSFUL. NO PART OF US CAN TAKE A MOMENT OFF. EVERY FACET MUST BE IN NEAR-PEAK FORM. IN 2025, WITH PRESENT-DAY PITCHER ADVANCEMENTS, THAT’S THE REALITY.  

LISTEN, THE GAME OF BASEBALL IS INHERENTLY DESIGNED TO SUBDUE HITTERS, AND TO ILLICIT CONSISTENT FAILURE. THE DECK HAS BEEN STACKED AGAINST HITTERS FOR OVER 150 YEARS.

IN WHAT OTHER GAME IS IT 9 VS 1? A HITTER STANDING ALONE, OUTNUMBERED AGAINST NINE INDIVIDUALS. IT IS A LOPSIDED CONFLICT BY ANY COMPETITIVE STANDARD. BUT ITS ACCEPTED AS THE NORM IN BASEBALL.

MILITARY ENGAGEMENTS ARE OFTEN DECIDED BY WHO IS ABLE TO OCCUPY THE HIGHER GROUND. IN BASEBALL, THE POWERS THAT BE PROPPED THE PITCHER UP ON AN ELEVATED MOUND, ENSURING THAT IN EACH ENGAGEMENT WITH A HITTER… THE PITCHER, IN FACT, HAS THE HIGHER GROUND AND THUS THE UPPER HAND. 

WE LIVE IN A DAY WHERE PITCHERS THROW HARDER — TRIPLE DIGITS CAN BE SEEN AT MINOR LEAGUE PARKS ACROSS THE COUNTRY — PITCHES MOVE IN UNFATHOMABLE WAYS (LITERALLY CRAFTED IN LABORATORIES), AND HITTERS’ RESPONSE TIMES HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY HAD TO BE REDUCED TO MINISCULE NUMBERS — EVEN BY TOP GUN FIGHTER PILOT STANDARDS.

YET… AS YOU’VE HEARD ME SAY BEFORE… 

HITTER’S FIND A WAY.

WHEN JFK FIRST POSED TO AMERICA, AND MORE SPECIFICALLY TO NASA, THE CHALLENGE OF GOING TO THE MOON, IT WAS THOUGHT BY MOST EXPERTS TO BE AN ABSOLUTE IMPOSSIBILITY. SCIENTISTS DEEMED IT FANTASTICAL. (IT STILL SEEMS SO FARFETCHED TO SOME TODAY… THEY BELIEVE THE WHOLE THING WAS FAKED.) 

IT WASN’T.

NASA FOUND A WAY. 

THE PHYSICS OF HITTING A MAJOR LEAGUE PITCH APPEAR TO BORDER ON THE IMPOSSIBLE. ROUGHLY 350 MILLISECONDS — OR THE BLINK OF AN EYE — TO PROCESS, TRACK, AND RESPOND TO A MOVING OBJECT WITH AN UNKNOWN FLIGHT TRAJECTORY AND POTENTIAL SPEED VARIATIONS. 

TALK ABOUT FARFETCHED. 

AND IT’S ALL RELATIVE — YOUNG PLAYERS TODAY ARE FACING THE BEST PITCHING IN THE HISTORY OF THE GAME AT THEIR RESPECTIVE LEVEL. 

SO BEING A HITTER… 

IS AN ADMIRABLE AND WORTHY PURSUIT. YOU MUST COME TO GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT… YOU MUST COME TO ACKNOWLEDGE THE ENDLESS RESILIENCE, THE HARD FOUGHT, HARD-EARNED DETERMINATION, AND THE DEEP COMPETITIVE CHARACTER IT TAKES TO BE A HITTER. YOU ARE FIGHTING A FIGHT THAT IN MANY WAYS IS NOT WINNABLE FROM DAY TO DAY. WE CAN DO EVERYTHING RIGHT AS HITTERS — AND STILL “FAIL” IN THE EYES  OF THE BASEBALL WORLD. 

BUT SPEAKING OF FAILURES…

IT WOULD BE DIFFICULT TO FIND AN ENTITY IN MODERN CIVILIZATION THAT LEARNED MORE FROM ITS FAILURES THAN NASA. THEY BECAME EXPERTS AT WHAT BECAME KNOWN AS “SUCCESSFUL FAILURES”… AND THEY MANAGED THE IMPOSSIBLE BECAUSE OF IT. 

ARE HITTERS ANY DIFFERENT? 

HELL, THE BEST IN THE GAME KNOW HOW TO USE FAILURE AS FUEL, PROPELLING THEMSELVES FORWARD DESPITE HITLESS DAYS, CRAPPY CALLS, ROBBED HITS, FILTHY PITCHES — WHATEVER.

SUCCESSFUL FAILURES ARE THE SPINE OF HITTING. 

IT’S A HITTER’S LIFEBLOOD. 

SO HOW DO WE GET THIS MENTALITY PUMPING THROUGH OUR VEINS? 

THIS DOESN’T HAVE TO BE NEURO-SURGERY:

AS T. KEITH GLENNAN, THE FIRST ADMINISTRATOR OF NASA, SAID IN A 1959 SPEECH WHERE HE FIRST MENTIONED SUCCESSFUL FAILURES… 

“… it is becoming increasingly apparent that greater efforts must be placed on simplification and reliability.”

SO HERE IS A SIMPLE AND RELIABLE PROCESS TO USE AFTER EACH AT BAT: 

1) IDENTIFY WHAT YOU DID WELL. NO MATTER HOW SMALL. CELEBRATE IT. ACKNOWLEDGE THE SUCCESS IN EACH AT BAT, REGARDLESS OF HOW SEEMINGLY INSIGNIFICANT IT MAY APPEAR TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD. 

IT’S THERE. 

SMALL VICTORIES BUILD BIG MOMENTUM. 

BUT THEY ALSO KEEP US IN THE DAY-T0-DAY FIGHT, ALLOWING US TO STAND OUR GROUND AND NOT SLIDE BACKWARD INTO THAT UNNECESSARY HITTING ABYSS. 

SO FIND THE VICTORY…

FOR INSTANCE: DID YOU EXECUTE YOUR PRE-AT BAT ROUTINE? DID YOU ENTER THE BOX IN THE DESIRED STATE YOU WANTED? WERE YOU ABLE TO TAKE A GREAT HITTER’S BREATH BEFORE THE PITCH? DID YOU MAKE A GOOD INITIAL MOVE ON TIME? I DON’T CARE WHAT IT IS… BUT FIND IT. 

AND IF YOU THINK EVERYTHING WAS ABSOLUTELY CRAP IN THAT AT BAT —

THEN GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT FOR HAVING THE STONES TO WALK TO THE PLATE AND COMPETE WHILE MOST EVERYONE ELSE WAS SITTING ON THEIR BUTTS AND SPECTATING.

YOU WERE THE MAN IN THE ARENA. 

STANDING ALONE. 

THAT MEANS SOMETHING.

AND DON’T YOU EVER FORGET IT. 

2) EXTRACT THE INFORMATION THAT YOU CAN USE IN THE NEXT AT BAT OR FUTURE AT BATS. 

SELF-ASSESSMENT AND SELF-AWARENESS ARE VITAL PARTNERS IN THIS HITTING GAME. WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO ASSESS WHERE AND WHY WE CAME UP SHORT IN AN AT BAT. HAVE THE COURAGE TO BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF WHEN EVALUATING YOUR PERFORMANCE… BUT DO SO WITH A PROFESSIONAL’S OBJECTIVE EYE. 

THIS MEANS LEAVING OUT ALL THE SELF-FLAGELLATION (THE: I ABSOLUTELY SUCK AND I CAN’T FREAKING HIT OFFSPEED AND I’M GODDAMN WORTHLESS UP THERE) — BECAUSE ALL OF THOSE NEGATIVE STATEMENTS JUST CHISEL AWAY AT YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE DO NOTHING TO HELP YOU GET A CLEAR, EMOTION-FREE UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT WENT WRONG AND HOW YOU CAN GO ABOUT FIXING IT. 

THIS IS WHERE A SERIOUS CALM, WHICH WE DISCUSSED IN EPISODE 2, IS SO INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT. IT ALLOWS YOU TO REMAIN CLEAR AND COMPOSED… SO YOU CAN ANALYZE AND ADJUST WITHOUT GETTING CARRIED OFF IN A TSUNAMI OF EMOTIONS.

SO ACKNOWLEDGE WHAT TRANSPIRED IN THE AT BAT. AND DECIDE WHAT NEEDS TO CHANGE IN THE NEXT ONE. 

3) AFFIRM THOSE CHANGES WITHIN YOURSELF AND VISUALIZE THEM. BRING THEM TO LIFE.

IF YOU WEREN’T IN A STRONG HITTING POSITION — GET IN ONE. SEE IT. TELL YOURSELF: I WILL GET TO MY SPOT NEXT AT BAT. CONSIDER IT DONE. 

IF YOUR TIMING WAS SUB-OPTIMAL — THEN SEE YOURSELF ON TIME, NO RUSH, NO PANIC… TELL YOURSELF: I AM ON TIME, READY TO RESPOND. 

IF YOU DIDN’T EXECUTE YOUR GAME PLAN — THEN WATCH THE CORRECTION IN YOUR MIND’S EYE. RUN IT BACK. SEE YOURSELF LAYING OFF THAT SPLITTER EARLY IN THE COUNT. OR POUNCING ON THAT FOUR-SEAMER MIDDLE-IN. TELL YOURSELF YOU ARE EXECUTING YOUR GAME PLAN WITH A SURGEON’S PRECISION AND POISE. 

WHATEVER IT IS. IF YOU WANT A MORE RELAXED APPROACH, OR YOU WANT TO INCREASE YOUR PITCH-TO-PITCH FOCUS. DO IT HERE. DO IT NOW. 

4) AND THEN FINALLY: LET IT GO. RELEASE THE AT BAT. PREFERABLY WITH A MIGHTY EXHALE. (MAKE THE SOUND) OR ANOTHER SYMBOLIC GESTURE THAT SIGNALS THE AT BAT IS NOW OVER. IT IS DEAD. IT NO LONGER EXISTS. SO PLEASE TURN THE DAMN PAGE… AND START ANEW. 

THAT LAST PART IS PARAMOUNT. 

NASA COULDN’T DWELL ON ITS FAILURES. THEY WERE IN THE RACE OF A LIFETIME WITH A SUPER POWER. THEY HAD TO CONSTANTLY MOVE FORWARD AT ALL COSTS. 

BUT THEY COULDN’T PRETEND THOSE MISTAKES NEVER HAPPENED EITHER. 

SO THEY EXTRACTED THE INFORMATION THEY NEEDED… ABSORBED IT AND APPLIED IT. 

THEN DISCARDED THE REST. 

AND MOVED FORWARD. 

AND BY ADHERING TO THIS SIMPLE AND RELIABLE PROCESS WITH AN UNWAVERING DISCIPLINE…

THEY DID THE IMPOSSIBLE. 

THEY LANDED ON THE MOON. 

AND THEY WON THE GREATEST RACE MAN HAS EVER KNOWN. 

SO PLEASE TAKE A PAGE OUT OF NASA’S PLAYBOOK. 

LISTEN TO KENNEDY.

AND ACKNOWLEDGE THE TREMENDOUS CHALLENGE YOU’VE COMMITTED YOURSELF TO. 

EMBRACE ALL THAT IT ENTAILS. 

HONOR IT. CELEBRATE IT. 

AND GROW FROM IT… EVERY. SINGLE. AT BAT. 

BEING A HITTER IS A HELL OF A THING. IT’S A BADGE OF HONOR IN A SPORTS WORLD THAT FACES NO TOUGHER CHALLENGE THAN THE ONE YOU FACE. 

SO EVERY TIME YOU RISE UP IN THE DUGOUT, SLIP INTO YOUR HELMET, PULL ON THOSE BATTING GLOVES, GRAB THAT STICK, AND ENTER THE COMPETITIVE ARENA — 

REMEMBER…

You choose to go to the PLATE, not because it is easy, but because it is hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of your energies and skills, because that challenge is one that you are willing to accept, one you are unwilling to postpone, and one you intend to win!

CUT TO MUSIC AND OUTRO.