To the fans and media in Boston, their pitcher was a bust.
He couldn’t win in the postseason and he couldn’t beat the Yankees.
On top of that, adding insult to infamy, this pitcher was getting $30 million a year.
And logic has it, if you’re getting $30 million per year, you are a loser if you don’t beat the Yankees, or win when it counts, in the playoffs.
In a playoff game a couple weeks ago, this loser pitcher didn’t even last two innings against the Yankees.
The ruthless fans showed their love, sung to the sound of “Booooo”as he walked off the field.
This morning, these same fans are in love. Their loser pitcher is now a hero.
He went from 0-9 in the postseason, to winning three games without a loss. Most importantly, he was the winning pitcher in the clinching game of the World Series.
He deserved the MVP for his efforts, but those things matter not when everyone knows you’re “the Man.”
David Price, rose from the fire of the abyss and transformed himself and his team into world champions – and did so within a few short weeks.
The talent and skill to win in the playoffs was there all along – but something was activated inside of Mr. Price after the pounding he received from the Yankees, and the Boston fans.
Coaches and players and the player himself can talk about a change in mechanics or some other physical detail all they want – but no change on the outside ever happens without one taking place on the inside.
As an observer, you can look into the eyes of a pitcher, quarterback or leader in any field, and you can tell who the warrior is and who’s the Nervous Nelly.
Becoming who Price was over the past couple weeks, comes from mixing your intention with your imagination. Not one or the other.
Both.
It also comes from being willing to move through the pain, to accept it as part of the process. Growth without pain (or pangs) rarely exists, regardless of what level of success you’ve already attained.
Price wasn’t just a pitcher in the Major Leagues. He was also a former Cy Young winner.
He was far from being a loser – but was considered one because he didn’t win when the fans thought it mattered most.
Now he’s proven to himself and the fans, at least for now, that he’s a winner – and a deserving one at that.
David Price’s monumental turnaround, proves to all of us, once again, that failure is never final and that when we are stuck in the deepest canyon, we are simultaneously in perfect position to scale the world’s tallest mountain.
See it. Feel it. Be it.
Matt Furey
