Baseball is like life. You are in for the long haul.

Please, no display of unsportsmanlike conduct.

Do not sit on the bench and bypass this post just because you are not a sports fan. This is a legit life lesson. Grab your glove. I am pitching a mighty metaphor today

Even a New York Yankees fan can appreciate Joshua Báez.

There. I said it.

Báez was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021 with enormous expectations. Then came the part nobody puts in the highlight reel.

The minors. Injuries. Strikeouts. A swing that went missing. In 2024, things got rough enough that the Cardinals put him on the developmental list to work things out.

In other words, life because life rarely follows the schedule we have thoughtfully prepared for it.

You strike out. You get benched. You make errors. You swing at things you absolutely should have left alone, a metaphor that applies equally well to careers, relationships and bangs after 50.

But you stay in the game.

Then, on August 15, Báez finally got his shot in the majors.

First pitch he saw. Home run.

Next at-bat. Home run.

Next one. Home run.

Three home runs in his Major League debut. He is the first player to ever achieve this milestone.

Apparently, patience occasionally pays off spectacularly.

Usually it just gets you a better table at a restaurant.

That is why baseball feels so much like life.

One bad inning is not the game.

One lousy season is not your career.

A slump does not mean you have forgotten how to swing.

You just keep showing up for the next at-bat.

At 30, you think life is a sprint.

At 50, you decide it’s a marathon.

Over 65, it can be a slog, but you keep on keeping on.

Eventually you realize life is baseball, long stretches where nothing seems to happen, questionable calls from people who clearly need their eyes examined, a few rain delays and the occasional glorious moment when everything connects.

Joshua Báez waited years for his.

When it came, he knocked it out of the park.

Three times.

Even this Yankees fan has to applaud that, although, let’s not get carried away.

He is still a Cardinal.

Congratulations, Joshua Báez and note, he went 0-5 with three strikeouts the next day…that’s life.