One of the greatest quotes ever was said by Mike Tyson. I’m slightly paraphrasing but,

“everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

I planned to face the middle of the Cincinnati lineup, expecting that if I did get in the game it would be a situation that had me, at some point, facing their big bats.

I didn’t spend on exorbitant amount of time with this, but a week ago I got their reports.

I conceived a plan and recognized that I would be able to have some success. Unfortunately, I mentioned this to my agent and he wisely said that the results would look good in my year end report which would determine my salary thanks to arbitration. Well like anyone motivated to perform with money as a factor I study a little harder. I didn’t ignore the teams we were facing, but for some reason I convinced myself I would get in against Cincinnati.

There was no evidence saying so, except the evidence I created and determined as fact.

I wasn’t derelict. I used the combination of a high fastball/changeup at the feet against batters in Florida; and sadly in the back of my mind that only served to strengthen the hypothesis that these pages would work against Cincinnati. I wasn’t derelict. I used the combination of a high fastball/changeup at the feet against batters in Florida; and sadly in the back of my mind that only served to strengthen the hypothesis that these pitches would work against Cincinnati.

As you can see, all thoughts all trains all roads lead to the Queen city.

If you can’t already see where this is going, please step away from the oncoming train.

As we boarded the plane leaving, I was left to ponder: if you plan for something that doesn’t happen is it a successful notion or a failure?