For a lot of young players, baseball starts the same way it did for me—fun. Backyard games, rec league Saturdays, and travel tournaments with friends. There’s no scoreboard pressure, no scouts with stopwatches and no scholarships on the line. Just fun.
But at some point, for some players, the dream shifts. The conversation changes from fun to funds. And make no mistake—with funds comes pressure. With funds comes accountability. With funds comes the demand to deliver.
The question is: how do you bridge that gap? How do you move from simply playing for the joy of the game to competing where performance is the currency?
I believe there are five characteristics every player must develop to make that jump.
1. Capacity to Compete
This isn’t just about showing up and wanting to win. Competing at the “funds” level requires capacity—the ability to handle the physical, mental, and emotional load of pressure. Baseball is technical (your mechanics) and tactical (your choices). Players who cannot balance both will break under pressure. Capacity is built by putting yourself in stressful situations and learning how to breathe through them, not avoid them.
2. Consistency in Habits
Fun is inconsistent. You might train hard one day and coast the next. But when money, scholarships, or contracts are involved, consistency is non-negotiable. Consistent habits—sleep, nutrition, training routines, recovery—are what allow your talent to become skill. Talent is what you do well. Skill is what you do well under stress. The bridge is consistency.
3. Coachability
Fun allows you to shrug off advice. Funds require you to receive instruction, make adjustments, and grow. Players who treat feedback as a threat don’t last long. The best performers see coaching as a gift. They know great coaching is the difference between liking the game and being able to live from the game.
4. Resilience After Failure
Mistakes in backyard ball? You laugh them off. Mistakes when scouts are in the stands? Those can stick to you. The difference-maker is resilience—the ability to recover quickly, reset and compete with confidence again. Scouts and coaches don’t just evaluate your skill set; they evaluate how you respond when things go wrong. Failure is inevitable. Resilience is a choice.
5. Love for the Game
Here’s the paradox: If you don’t love the game when it’s fun, you won’t last when it becomes funds. The joy of the game has to be the foundation. When you’re sore, when you’re cut from a lineup, when the grind gets heavy, love is what keeps you in it. Funds without love turn into burnout. Love makes the pursuit sustainable.
Fun vs. Funds: Ticket or Ticket Holder?
At the end of the day, there are only two types of people in this conversation:
- The ticket—the player others come to see.
- The ticket holder—the one paying to watch.
Moving from fun to funds requires more than talent—it requires character, discipline, and sacrifice. It’s not for everybody. And that’s okay. But if you want to be the ticket, these five characteristics are not optional.
Fun is necessary—it’s where you discover your love for the game. But funds is a business. It requires capacity, consistency, coachability, resilience and love.
So here’s my challenge: Don’t just play for fun. Don’t just dream about funds. Build the characteristics that make you the ticket.
Because when the lights are on and the scouts are watching, performance and character—not personality—are what will get you paid.
Remember: Intelligence tops being smart.
For more information, visit www.diamonddirectors.com today.
If you found this inspiring and thought-provoking, or if you have any questions, comments or concerns, add me on Discord and let’s go deeper.
C.J. Stewart has built a reputation as one of the leading professional hitting instructors in the country. He is a former professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization and has also served as an associate scout for the Cincinnati Reds. As founder and CEO of Diamond Directors Player Development, C.J. has more than 22 years of player development experience and has built an impressive list of clients, including some of the top young prospects in baseball today. If your desire is to change your game for the better, C.J. Stewart has a proven system of development and a track record of success that can work for you.
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