Cal Ripken Jr. is one of baseball's legends and today players like Alex Rodriguex still look to him as one of their heroes. One of Cal Ripken's childhood stories is of how his Little League baseball team lost the regional final. Cal gave up a three-run homer and was the losing pitcher. After the game, all the players were crying and miserable, especially Cal. If they had gone home that day it would have been one of their worst memories. But as it worked out, the next day another team took Cal's team deep sea fishing. Cal had never done that before. It turned out to be a fun time and a great memory.
What would have happened if Cal had gone home the next day and continued feeling bad about the way he played? Would he have quit and not gone on to accomplish a championship career? Players can get too wrapped up in their mistakes and forget to focus on their accomplishments. Players learn from mistakes by understanding them and not by dwelling on them.