LOOKING BACK

Before you get into this post too much, let me tell you a little bit more about Shane Hale and his accomplishments. He was 6'1,142 lbs the day he graduated high school, no offers, not even a call, got one offer late summer, showed up at South Alabama at 152 that fall. Weight room became his friend, four years later at a 180lb, 7th round pick by the Orioles in 1990 because he threw some cheddar! While he never made it to the Big Leagues, he did have an amazing experience and shares some of his stories. He was even an extra in Major League 2. Seriously check out his posts and his website www.the1sixproject.com .

And now, without further ado here is an offering from Shane regarding getting your work done and being disciplined.

If I could summarize my college and professional baseball career in one word, that word would be…. “alone”.

Sure, there were more “in season” team practices and workouts than I could count, but the thing is…. There is a lot of “off season”, which was anything but “off” for me and, during those years, I most often got my work in…. “alone”.

In season the “alone” continued…. days (most days) when no one else wanted to lift, countless nights after road games when I was “alone”, cooking a solid nutritious meal on a hotel balcony, or in the parking lot, instead of eating fast food somewhere with the boys.

For the better part of a decade, there was sacrifice and work to be done each day, and most days…. it was me, myself and I in attendance. Showing up day after day, no matter what.

In the end, it was all worth it, all of it, was worth it.

My oldest is a freshman at Mississippi College, redshirt on the football team and getting ready to contribute year one on the track team.

Surfing the MC Instagram page today I see a kid by himself in the back of the weight room…. “alone”.

After a closer look, turns out, he’s mine.

That Apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Keep putting in the work Dylan Hale.

From Nose To Toes!