Excerpt from the television show Eastbound and Down by HBO

Ask anybody out there and they’ll tell you that the foundation of a great baseball player starts with the understanding of some basic fundamentals: running, stretching, physical conditioning. These are the things that prepare your body for the many challenges a baseball player faces. I heard that bullshit thrown at me all my damn life. You know what Kenny Powers says? Fundamentals are the crutch of the talentless. This one coach tried to put me on a weight training program and I was all like, “You and your weights can fuck off somewhere—I’m not lifting that shit! It’s heavy! You tell me why I need strength training when I’m strong enough to throw a goddamn 100mph pitch! Fuck that!”

See, in life, when you have talent, all the other shit doesn’t matter. If we were on an island with no weights and no running drills, who would be on top then? The guy with the talent.

In a nutshell, you can train all you want. You can work on your catching, on your throwing, on your running… hell, it might even be enough to get you into the majors. But in order to be a standout… an all-star… a champion… you need more than hard work and dedication. You need something that you can’t work for. You need a blessing from God Almighty.