Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Frustrating, Adjusting, Taking Action, Changing

The San Francisco Giants rock bottom woes inspired me to blog about taking action when everything is going wrong. Here's a short summary of recent Giants frowns followed by optimism or successes:

*Starting pitcher Barry Zito no longer a starter. Left-hander Zito was moved to the bullpen on Fri Aug 2. Zito has not won a game on the road for the entire season. Right-hander Guillermo Moscoso replaced him in the starting rotation.

“Sometimes it’s just time for a change,” Manager Bruce Bochy said. "And it’s good to give [Moscoso] a look.”

*Failed leading off. Outfielders and platoon leadoff hitters Gregor Blanco and Andres Torres teamed up for a 0 for 5 performance on Sun Aug 4. Bochy was frustrated and up in arms. It was time for a change. Blanco’s on-base percentage was .316 and Torres' was .300, numbers too low for the number one in a batting order. The two players hit a combined .125 since the All-Star break in middle June.

“We’re not getting any production from our leadoff hitters,” Bochy said. “We’re going to have to change this up.” Second basemen Marco Scutaro or right fielder Hunter Pence were Bochy's choices for the new leadoff hitter.

*First basemen Brandon Belt is National League Player Of The Week for the week of Mon Aug 5. Congratulations! Belt made adjustments to his batting stance. He has a new grip and moved toward the back of the batter's box.

Hitting coach Hensley Meulens told Belt to talk to Philadelphia Phillies all-star Domonic Brown for advice. Belt also talked to his teammates during his 1-for-19 slump at the Giants' last homestand in late July. "You hear something a certain way one time and it just clicks," said Belt. "That's what happened. It's clicking."

Belt admitted to being stubborn. "It just took a little convincing to change," said Belt. He's listening.

* Out of the playoffs. It's time to focus on the 2014 season. The Giants are evaluating, experimenting, and doing trail & error who's going to be back for next season.

*An example of experimenting. There have been games Belt batted fourth and shortstop Brandon Crawford second in the batting order. Belt usually bats sixth or seventh and Crawford bats seventh or eighth.

My example of being frustrated is finding a job. I always adjust, take action, and change my job search. Every few moments, I find something to hopefully increase my odds of getting an interview. For instance, I change my resume, change my cover letter, condense my job search parameters to save time, and find new sources to submit my resume. I listen to anyone with advice, information, and leads. I make a choice to take action to move further.

Life must never be full of problems, troubles, mistakes, bad moments, and slumps. Make lemonade when life gives you lemons. Add honey to vinegar. There's something positive for negative situations. There's something to improve for every success. Never take life for granted. We must earn our successes and we must have strength and courage to overcome times we fall down. Never stop innovating--innovate infinitely.

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