Johan Santana was born in Venezuela, right before the start of the 18th regular Major League Baseball season. Throughout his childhood, the Mets started some notable pitchers. None of them pitched a no-hitter for the Mets. Growing up, Santana played center field. After being discovered and entering the training academy in 1994, he was told he would be a pitcher. He wasn’t happy about that decision, because he considered himself a center fielder. That’s what he was good at. That’s where he’d always played. Reluctantly, he accepted the role. Six years later, he pitched his first game, for the Minnesota Twins in April of 2000. He didn’t make his way over to Shea Stadium to play for the Mets until 2008. Still, a no-hitter had not been pitched there. Santana sat out of the 2011 season due to surgery, and came back hoping that he would be able to make an impact during the 2012 season. That he did. On June 1, 2012, he went down as the first, and only, New York Mets pitcher to pitch a no-hitter.
Today, I want you to believe in yourself—your potential for
greatness. I want you to wrap your
thoughts around the fact that on the day you were born, you began a journey
towards your destiny. You have skills,
talents and abilities that many others have, but the future is waiting for YOU
to make history. Your destiny could be
tied to something or someone in another city, state, or country. Your destiny could be tied to an unrecognized
talent, skill or ability. The key is
preparation. Vince Lombardi once said, “The
only place sucess comes before work is in the dictionary.” Don’t expect for success to come knocking on
your door…go out and find it. Surround
yourself with people who are experts at doing the very thing that you want to
do. Seek out advice and constructive
feedback from them. Be open to their
suggestions about the direction of your career.
Work on your weaknesses—real and perceived and when opportunity presents
itself, give it everything you’ve got.
No one can do it alone.
Johan Santana is the one who will be remembered for the no-hitter, but
there were others who helped make it possible.
One teammate caught a fly ball, an umpire made a questionable call in
favor of Santana, and the team manager kept him in the game when he seemed to
be struggling. Don’t worry, if you’re
prepared and working your hardest, your help will come in various forms. It’s not going to happen overnight. There will be many highs and lows on your
journey, don’t spend too much time lamenting the lows, and spend even less time
celebrating the highs. View all of these
as rest stops en route to your destination.
Keep moving forward. Always believe that you have a greater purpose than the one you see or have imagined. You do. In fact, it is my belief that the future is waiting on YOU to make history.
