Effort Alert for Acuna...Again!
Paging Steve Prefontaine….
Game One, 2019 NLDS between the St Louis Cardinals and the Atlanta Braves. Wunderkind outfielder Ronald Acuna, all of 21 years old, generates a very productive line for his team: 4 at bats, 3 hits, a walk, 7 total bases, 1 run scored, 2 runs batted in, all in a one- run loss to the Cards.
And yet……his fans –and his teammates –speak postgame of their disappointment in his work.
Why?
Effort. Or more precisely , lack thereof. Acuna’s lackadaisical takeoff from the batter’s box after lofting a deep fly to right field in the 7th inning cost him a double. He had to settle for a single. Did it matter that inning, or overall? We will never know. But maybe it did. Maybe then he would have been on 3rd base moments later when Josh Donaldson lined out to shortstop, and on 3rd he would have been less likely to have been doubled off. And so maybe he could have scored. Maybe.
But like the last time he lollygagged to first base on a long hit, just 6 weeks ago, his long leadoff hit produced no run. So did it make a difference? No way to know. Certainly the Braves found many other paths to this defeat, including lack of timely hitting, questionable baserunning beyond Acuna, and most of all, a once-more combustible bullpen that not only blew, but blew up a late 2 run lead, turning it into a 4 run deficit. None of that was Acuna’s doing. Still…..
I suppose that thing that rankles Acuna’s fans and mates is the nagging awareness that he failed at one of the very few things you can always control in the game of baseball. Namely, effort. Almost every baseball fan has learned personally at some point how hard it is to hit a pitched baseball, much less to hit it hard, and especially to do so frequently. But we can all run hard.
And, sure, we saw others fail to run “all-out” on grounders. Yes, we saw outfielders get late jumps on pop flies. But this lack of effort, which hints at a lack of resolve, comes from a man who is already famous for making all other parts of this game that we know are so difficult look so ridiculously easy. That’s a gift. Plain and simple. And as the late Steve Prefontaine once said, ” To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” If you believe that, then going all-out every time is the way to honor that gift– regardless of how it might affect the outcome. The only way.
Another quote from another highly accomplished sports figure from a ways back comes to mind. Coach John Wooden coined his own definition of success. He said ,” success is peace of mind that comes as a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.” By that definition, Acuna failed in game one. He can do so many baseball things that so very few can do, yet he did not do the one thing that anyone can do.
As Acuna hones his game in the years to come, he must rid himself of the habit of demonstrating competitive nonchalance, even for a moment. And it is a habit. Either way, he will be among the game’s greatest. But ideally, he will have maximized his gifts–because that’s the right way.
Sustained effort is optional. Exercise that option, Ronald, so we can wallow in our wonder at your skills.
Patrick Conarro