We were all starters wants. We all were the east on the Little League team, the high school team, the AAU/travel ball/Pony League team.

We were all The Guy.

Only a small number still are. And for the majority of the world, that’s fine.

But for anyone in a major league bullpen, what could’ve been is always staring right at you.

At some point, someone told all of us that we weren’t good enough. It wasn’t that we weren’t good. They always admit that we are good; but just not good enough.

Because at the end of the day, its about getting major league batters out.

For some, they only have one pitch that can do that. For others, it’s two. And you can’t get big leaguers out with stuff like that for more than an inning.

For pitchers like me, it’s a length issue. Meaning the second time a batter sees my stuff, Skip and the Suits and everyone has decided that I’m not as good at getting them out.

It was tough the first time I was told that. But like a Band-Aid, the biggest pain is on the initial rip.

But the scar that’s left still hurts from time to time.