Staying undefeated

The Seattle Mariners’ Nick Franklin knows the difference between defeat and being defeated

In today’s Seattle Times, Seattle Mariners’ manager Eric Wedge describes his hot young second basemen, Nick Franklin:

“He’s not afraid to fail.’’

Nick Franklin of the Seattle Mariners
-Elaine Thompson, Associated Press

Reporter Bob Condotta’s profile of Franklin raises an important sports issue not much discussed: the importance of failure for those who succeed.

Condotta recounts Saturday’s game against the Oakland A’s. Although Franklin hit a popup to second base—a sure out—he nonetheless charged to first base without betraying any frustration. Just one inning later, Franklin knocked in what proved to be the winning runs.

“That’s what you’ve got to do,’’ Wedge said of Franklin’s ability to fail one inning and then succeed the next, saying that an important lesson for the young players on the Mariners is that “there is no perfection’’ in baseball.

Wedge, of course, understands that Franklin has learned a lesson that few athletes fully embrace: treating each setback not as a loss, but as an opportunity to learn. That’s a mantra we’ve often heard in conversations with volleyball’s elite coaches and mentors. We have no doubt it’s a philosophy shared by the best coaches in other sports, too.

US National Team coach Karch Kiraly
-photo by Leslie Hamann

“Losing offers a much better opportunity to learn than winning,” Karch Kiraly says. During our interview for Court & Spark, the US National Team head women’s volleyball coach says elite athletes understand that losses and mistakes offer and important opening “to bounce back, to face adversity.”

“There are ups and there are downs. And there are tough times. We want our kids to be able to handle those tough times with the right mindset. Not let it crush them, not have failure knock ‘em to the floor and not get back up.”

Condotta’s profile captures another lesson that the very best coaches teach: focusing only on things under your control.

“I don’t try to put things in my head that the other team is trying to do to me,’’ (Franklin) said. “I’m just going to worry about what I’ve got to do and my approach and how I’m going to attack them.’’

That philosophy has helped Courtney Thompson, too. As she told us during one of our interviews in Łódź, Poland, “It’s something (Washington coach) Jim (McLaughlin) always preached in college. That you can control what you can control. And focus on yourself. And any minute you’re worried about how the other player’s playing, it’s distracting you from what you need to do.

“Which makes sense. But to get up every day and do that is really, really hard. Especially when you know what’s on the line.”

Make sure you read Bob Condotta’s full Nick Franklin profile: Nick Franklin is catching on quickly with Mariners.