Eck -- The Man!

Last week, I was lucky enough to cross paths with Dennis Eckersley.  I interviewed this Hall of Fame pitcher in 2015 and profiled him in my book PINNACLE ON THE MOUND.  Full of insights, he shared great story after great story and many nuggets about baseball and pitching.  But, one of my favorites was a very human story about the struggle to be in the moment.  Being inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he was excited to participate in the festivities and catch up with past teammates and rivals, yet he was preoccupied.  He had a speech to deliver, and he was anxious about it. 

"You wish you could have the speech, and then go," he says.  "But the speech is at the end of the whole experience.  So you're uptight about the speech that you don't even have a good time before it!  Right?  That's me anyway.  I always live in this sort of dread of having to perform." 

But, after delivering the speech:  relief. 

"The heat's not on.  Ultimately, it comes down to living in the moment.  Enjoying the moment.  It's hard for me."