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July 28, 2004
I have known for years about the truths about life and passion for sports
being one and the same. My passion is baseball and for the record, I’m in
my 5th decade of competitive baseball, and I finally made it
into a major league dugout. I’ll get to that in a bit.
My playing career started in 1962, when, at the age of six, I played first
base and right field for a team called the Center Township Braves. As a
player, I played 15 years, mostly as a pitcher, catcher, first baseman and
right fielder. At 18 and in need of extra cash for my college
extracurricular activities, my career as an umpire began. That part-time
job lasted for the better part of the next 27 years. During that time, I
had two left knee reconstructions and needed several porcelain crowns to
replace lost and/or chipped teeth. As for arguments, I’ve had my share
having tossed some highly reputable high school and college coaches out of
games.
When my son, Kenneth, started playing baseball in 1992, I started coaching
and coached him through his early teen years. He’ll be a senior this year
and is still at. He was a pitcher and an infielder for his team last year.
When Debby’s son came of age, I coached his travel teams as well. Kyle is a
rising sophomore and is a pitcher, first baseman and right fielder.
All in all, you could say that I’ve found my inner peace on the baseball
diamond. Over the years, I’ve been involved in thousands of games and I’ve
seen literally millions of pitches as a pitcher, catcher, hitter, umpire,
coach and fan. Along the way, I learned a few things about the game of
baseball, life and believe it or not the stock market.
That brings me up to this week. I’m sitting in a dugout in Kissimmee
Florida, which for the non-baseball fan is the spring training home of the
Houston Astros. I brought my team, the East Cobb Giants, here to play for
the 15 yr. old USSSA National Championship.
It’s hot, humid and stifling in this part of the world. We’ve been playing
and practicing for the better part of three months getting ready for this
tournament. There are 30 or so teams here from all over the United States
and Puerto Rico. I think the team from Seattle has come the farthest. It’s
a pretty simple affair – you come, you play, you lose twice and then you
leave. The teams from Washington State also hook themselves up to ivs –
they are no way acclimated to play in south Florida. We’ve been playing
since Monday (it’s now Friday) and the tournament ends tomorrow.
If you had asked me two weeks ago if we would be playing on Friday, I would
have said – not a chance. The kids weren’t playing well and there was lots
of bickering. Losing tends to do that. We couldn’t buy a hit or make a
clean play. Also, a couple of key players were injured and not able to make
the trip. And to top it off, we are ranked as the #4 team in Georgia and
the expectations for us are off the charts.
So how do you make the connection between baseball and investing? Here are
just a few:
One – No two days are ever the same. No matter how hard you try, you can’t
take what happened yesterday and apply it to today. You can try, but you
had better adapt to today if you want to be successful today.
Two - You have to have a plan in order to be successful. I’ve talked about
this a lot. Most people approach the markets without solid entry and exit
plans. I have a team with 14 players on it. Each one is unique and has
different attributes and abilities. In order to be successful, I have to
have a plan to put the right combinations in place. Like life itself, you
need to have a plan of attack is you want to have success. In the game we
play, you need 21 outs (7 innings x 3 outs/inning) – I want the team to
play hard for 21 outs. If they do that, the chances are pretty good we’ll
be successful.
Three - You have to use all of the tools at your disposal. Baseball like
investing is a lot like a chess game. In order to be successful, you have
to know the strategies and when to implement them. This one is important
because most investors like most coaches I come up against use only the
most basic tools. It may get the job done some of the time, but you can
increase your chances of success considerably by digging a little further
into the playbook.
Four – Being afraid to fail is a sure ticket to failure. I’ve been thinking
about this a lot this week. In both, you have to be decisive. Indecision
will kill you. A lot of it has to do with ego and whatnot. From the
baseball perspective: (1) A pitcher has to throw the ball 60 feet 6 inches
and he has to throw it across the plate, which is 17 inches across. Getting
the pitcher to throw the ball 60’6” and put it where you want it is a very
difficult task. Great pitches in great spots do get hit hard every once and
a while. (2) A batter, on the other hand, has to take a round bat and swing
at a round ball that is thrown at you, with the goal of hitting it square.
Think about it for a minute, hitting a baseball is one of the hardest
things to do in sports. Hitters who fail two out of three times are famous
and in the Hall of Fame. Great hits sometimes find the other guy’s glove.
(3) How many times have you (or someone you know) failed to exit a position
because you are “afraid” to take the loss. Or worse – won’t exit an
investment until it comes back up to the original purchase price.
Five - If you ever
stop learning, you’re no longer in the game. I’ve been in baseball for 43
years and I still don’t know all that there is. I’ve been an investment
advisor for the past 22 years. I still don’t know all that there is.
Success on the field and markets come from years of practice and study. You
learn from both your success and your mistakes. And you keep on learning.
For the record, we
lost on Friday and are out of the tournament. We finished tied for 7th.
I’ll take #7 in USSSA any day. The kids played hard and gave their all. I’m
proud of them and what they accomplished. CJ, our catcher, made one play
where he had to jump up and grab the ball, avoid the runner coming home and
have the presence of mind to tag him as he went by. It’s one of the best
plays at the plate I’ve ever seen. “Griz” almost hit one out – he had a
game winning double off the left field wall. Biggest hit of his life. He
also pitched his heart out. Brent, Heath and Lance each pitched a complete
game. Biggest and best outing of the year for each.
My highlights: (1) Having my son, Kenneth, be with me and coach first base.
(2) After our first game in the big stadium (3rd overall), Heath
after having pitched the best game in his life walked out on the field and
with baggy in hand scooped up a handful of dirt from the pitcher’s mound to
take home with him. Seeing the look on his face reminded us all that
baseball is just a game and that no matter how hard we might try, we’re all
kids at heart.
That’s about it. Look for me back in the office on Monday August 9. Take
care and have a great week.
R. A.
Christy
Robert Christy is a
professional trader, author and money manager. Mr. Christy is also
President/ CEO of Christy Investment Group, Ltd., a registered investment
advisory firm. At the time of publication, Mr. Christy may from time to
time write about stocks in which he, Plato Advisors LLC, or Christy
Investment Group, Ltd. has a position. In such cases, appropriate
disclosure is made. Under no circumstances does the information in this
column represent a specific recommendation to buy or sell stocks. Mr.
Christy appreciates your feedback and invites you to send it to
rac@christyinvestments.com.
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