I hate the word failure.

There's an old baseball saying that goes something like, 'even the best players in the game fail 7 out of 10 times.' Well, that's true: the best players alive do get out 7 out of 10 times. But I've always thought 'failure' is the wrong word for that sentence.

Baseball is such a brutally difficult game that if we only evaluate ourselves in terms of hits and outs and win and loses, we're setting ourselves up for frequent disappointment. I've talked before about the 'process' vs. the 'result,' but when I came across this photo of my very dear friend, teammate and former roommate Jordan Tata it made me think of what "success" is on a grander scale.

As you can see, it's a great photo - clearly taken after Jordan had been pulled from the game after a disappointing performance. Jordan is downright dejected and Tigers manager Jim Leyland is attempting to console him. I don't doubt it was soon after this shot was taken that Jordan was sent back down to AAA - an absolute 'failure' to the casual baseball fan, and at the time, I know Jordan felt the same way.

But there's more to the story. As the kids at summer camp who have heard me tell the 'Jordan Tata Story' can attest, his career was by all accounts an amazing success (I'll tell that story in another blog).

Without knowing Jordan's journey to the Big Leagues, it's easy to see the impending demotion to the Minors captured in this photo as a failure, but when I look at this photo the emotional reaction I have is of admiration. Jordan made it to the Big Leagues and the amount of effort and dedication that was required to make it that far was incalculable - only people who have made into professional baseball are truly aware of the sacrifice it takes to make it to The Show.

How many of us would KILL for the chance to be sent down to the Minors????

So while most baseball fans probably view this picture as one of failure - I think of how many players (myself included) worked as hard as we could to get to the MLB but didn't - and I think what an unqualified success it was to even make it that far.

If your son is still playing all-stars and playoffs, you're likely going to see some tears when his team loses the "the big game" or when he comes up a little short in a big spot. The tears are healthy, and when your son gets over the initial emotional reaction to losing (usually 2 minutes left alone and a Slushy will do the trick), make sure to remind him of the successes of the season, and that it is impossible to "fail" if he gave it everything he had on the field.

Hitting the ball hard, but getting out: success, not failure.

Throwing the pitch you want, but giving up a hit: success, not failure.

Working as hard as you can to achieve a goal but coming up just short: success, not failure.

Not trying: failure!