I could always hit a baseball as a kid growing up.
It was a gift that I had, starting when I was about 2 years old, with a wiffle bat in my hand, all the time.
I played on Little League teams, then All Star teams. And, many of the All Star teams I was asked to play on, were with kids 1 & 2 years older than I was.
My batting average was always super high, and my "on-base percentage" even higher -- when I was 7 years old, up until high school.
I made and started on my high school's baseball team. I was playing third base. I was 16 years old, and thrilled to be playing, and representing my school.
We were playing Notre Dame High School, at Mercer County Park.
The pitcher on the other team was named, Tommy. Tommy had a reputation for being a nasty pitcher. ("Nasty" -- meaning his pitches were difficult to hit.)
He was a big kid, probably about 6 ft 2, and burly. Tommy had blonde hair, and he looked older than the rest of the kids -- even though he was our age.
As I watched Tommy warm up, I noticed that there were men in the stands taking notes. One stood behind the backstop and had a radar gun pointed at Tommy as he pitched.
These were Major League Baseball Scouts taking notes on Tommy -- and documenting his every move, and pitches.
If you've ever played baseball, there is a sound -- a special sound that a baseball makes when it is thrown at 90 MPH. The sound is like a combination of whizzing, along with -- the sizzle of a piece of bacon, on a hot griddle.
I found myself standing in the batters box, as I heard that sound for the first time.
Now, mind you -- up until this moment -- I could really hit, I mean -- I was hitting leadoff on the Varsity Baseball Team.
First pitch from Tommy (with me standing in the batters box, had me frozen) -- as he threw the first pitch right over the plate -- with the unique whizzing sound. Bacon on the griddle.
The man with the radar gun behind home plate, spoke in hushed tones (but, I could hear) -- he said, "91".
I knew what that meant. 91 Miles per hour. Faster than anything I had ever faced.
It was fast, and full of burst, energy and sound -- I knew I was not going to hit Tommy's pitches, but I wanted to try -- or, in the very least -- look good failing.
Then, one of the most memorable moments of my sporting existence happened, on the very next pitch.
His second pitch was coming straight to my head.
Right at my face.
I saw my life flash before my eyes.
I dove straight down face first into the dirt, and thought I narrowly missed death by nanoseconds. In that moment, I was sort of praising myself for being such a good athlete, that I could evade being killed by a pitcher named Tommy.
The umpire yelled, "STRIKE 2!"
Tommy had thrown me a curveball, the likes I had NEVER SEEN, and would never see again.
My team mates were laughing. The other team in the opposing dugout -- Notre Dame had seen this all before, because they were witnessing history, as most "normal" high school players, dont see a pitcher of this caliber, often -- if EVER. He was on their team, pitching for them -- and making opposing players look foolish.....
Tommy's team was accustomed to seeing guys like me get made a fool of, by his incredible talent.
As I brushed off the dirt from my uniform, I stood in the batters box. I struck out four times that day. I had NEVER STRUCK OUT MORE THAN ONCE IN ANY GAME OF MY LIFE. (I hit in many hundreds of baseball games up to that point -- hardly ever striking out once-- but NEVER twice).
My baseball career ended that day. I stayed with the team, but my love of playing the game of baseball slowly ended, and was replaced by other sports, that I knew I could excel at.
Baseball immediately went from being an important sport in my life that I loved to play, to quickly being shelved for something else.
Tommy, damn you.
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"Andy, we need to build this to deliver the campaign."
I did not want to build it.
We were at a cross roads.
We had a product that was adding tens of millions of dollars to our companies revenue, and was our, "Cash Cow."
We were at the moment in our company history, where the decision had to be made. Commit to building the product to support the revenue stream, or focus on something different -- and that something different had ZERO Revenue -- but, I knew it was the right thing. It was my original vision for this business which is HERE, our first site -- that I got away from -- to build revenue.
We had 70 employees depending on that revenue. But, in my heart I knew that the place that all of our revenue came in from -- was not going to last in it's current form.
My ability to hit a ball, as I was able to do in my youth --- was going to change, quickly -- and with little notice. Similar to the day in Mercer County Park, against a blonde haired kid......
This change in business, my business -- was the equivalent of my facing Tommy -- as I stood in that batters box. Tommy appeared, but he was not a person, but rather a change in business. Tommy represented a decision that had to be made, as a result of change, or a new important factor. Walk away from baseball, something that I was good at -- to spend time on something that I knew I would succeed in.
We closed the revenue generating business (not an easy decision) and, had to let really good people go.
But, shedding that business, allowed us to focus on something I knew was right.
Making that decision was the equivalent of knowing I would never ever hit Tommy's curveball. And, I did not want to try.
I would have to practice to learn to hit Tommy's curveball. It would take time. It might cost time, which is the most precious asset we have -- and when you commit time, it's at the expense of something else...
Or, in the business case I would lose valuable time -- having to commit to build new features, in order to keep up with the ever changing landscape of internet advertising. Time is the great equalizer -- and we NEVER HAVE ENOUGH OF IT.
Our revenue that I wanted to leave behind was the curveball.
We pivoted. We closed the business, and walked away.
Best business decision I've ever made. It allowed us to focus, to create value -- and to win.
Thanks Tommy.
