SUCCESS STORY
Andrew McCutchen: Advantages of Disadvantages
August 8th, 2013. The Pirates are playing the Miami Marlins on an average night game at PNC Park. The weather is beautiful, with the temperature being seventy-five degrees and a pleasant five-mile per hour wind coming from the south. Before the game begins, a woman wearing black pants and a Pirates jersey steps behind home plate to sing the National Anthem in front of thirty-five thousand people. She sings her heart out just as she would sing in the Peaceful Believers Church during choir on Sundays. After the cheering has died down from the performance, Andrew McCutchen walks up to the singer and gives her a welcoming hug that lasted for about ten seconds. It turns out that it was Andrews’s mom, Petrina McCutchen, who sang the National Anthem. As Andrew hugs Petrina, the crowd went wild. That moment in time marked Andrew McCutchen success in life. (Bluey, Rob B)
Andrew McCutchen grew up with several disadvantages in life that included a lack of; proper baseball equipment, size, and financial stability. However, these disadvantages would contribute to Andrews’s success in life; therefore, these disadvantages were truly advantages which agrees with Gladwell theories.
Andrew was born and raised in Fort Meade Florida, a city of just under ten thousand people. His house consisted of three rooms and a bathroom all packed into a tiny trailer home. Andrews’s parents knew that sports were his ticket out of this low-end lifestyle. Andrews low income parents wanted the best for him, even though his dad worked at the local church as a pastor and worked an overnight shift in a phosphate mine, while his mother worked at the local sheriffs department to make ends meet. They still could raise the funds necessary to get Andrew to be able to play baseball. Even though he didn’t have the best equipment, it was adequate enough to train with. He would practice with his dad using bottle caps and pebbles for baseballs and a broomstick as a bat. Even with the lack of actual baseball equipment, he made the best out of his situation. (Bluey)
Malcolm Gladwell recently published a book in 2013 called David and Goliath, in chapter two, he said “There is a set of advantages that have to do with material resources, and there is a set that have to do with the absence of material resources-and the reason underdogs win as often as they do is that the latter is sometimes every bit the equal of the former.” (19) Gladwell is stating that people who were considered to have a disadvantage by an outsider actually caused the person to work harder and therefore made an advantage. [dl1] For example, Gladwell tells a story about a girl’s basketball team. The team was notoriously bad and had a coach who never played the game himself.(Gladwell) When the other teams in the conference would play them, it wasn’t a question if they were going to win, but by how much are they going to win. However, Gladwell wants you to think that, and then he tells you the reason why it’s an advantage.[dl2] The coach recognized this and changed the whole style of play to adapt with the ability of the players. A traditional style of defense in basketball is called man on man defense. The coach recognized that and changed the style into a full press, which means that the players were basically hovering the opposing team to exhaust them and to wear them down. Also noted, the full press defensive is usually played in the last minute or two of the game to ensure a basket isn’t scored. The coach who never competed in basketball would be considered a disadvantage by most opposing coaches. Yet, this is the reason why he changed his defense and if it weren’t for him not playing the game, he would have never thought outside the box and stepped out of the traditional roots of basketball. That year the coach took a girls basketball team that previously won very little in the recent years and then turned the team around to a 25–0 season.
This same Gladwellian idea applies to Andrew McCutchen. The broomstick replacing the bat and, pebbles, and bottle caps replacing baseballs. Andrew’s broomstick was one-third the diameter of a traditional wood bat, and his bottle caps and small pebbles were one-eighth the size of a baseball. The lack of proper equipment resulted in a significant increase in Andrew’s eye-hand coordination because he was using equipment that made it significantly more difficult to hit. I am sure Andrew and his parents thought that this is all they could afford to use and deemed barely useful. [dl3] But this disadvantage actually caused him to concentrate on his hitting which made it extremely easy to hit in an actual game because he was using a bat that is three to four times the size and also hitting baseballs that were eight times the size of his bottle caps. Andrew McCutchen didn’t know that this disadvantage deemed by wealthier people was an advantage, when he played an actual game, it must have been hitting beach volleyball to him. This would in return explain why he hit .706 in his senior year of high school[dl4] .
Andrews dad, Lorenzo, was five-feet-nine-inches, his mother, Petrina, was five-feet-seven-inches. Because of the size of Andrew’s parents, it was easy to predict that Andrew was going to be of average size. Andrew grew through high school to five-feet-ten-inches and a weight of one hundred and sixty five pounds. Therefore, Andrew’s size was a significant disadvantage and Andrew had to prove to the critics that he could develop into a five-tool (running speed, arm strength, hitting for average, hitting for power, fielding ability) baseball player even with his small stature. (TUTHILL)
From the book David and Goliath, Gladwell suggests that the reason why David conquered Goliath was that the giant’s great strength and size could be used against him. “Giants are not what we think they are. The same qualities that appear to give them strength are often the sources of great weakness.”(11) David used Goliaths size and strength (an advantage) against Goliath for David’s personal benefit.
Even though Andrew was destined to be of average size, he used his size (a disadvantage) and turned it into an advantage. For example, if Andrew McCutchen had a significantly larger stature, he might not have worked as hard as he did because he would have been the dominant size player in high school baseball. Baseball would have come easily to him; therefore, Andrew would have coasted through high school sports, which could have resulted in a low-average pro-baseball player and not the baseball player he is [dl5] today. Because of Andrew’s smaller statue, he worked his tail off to make up for his size. He was always working out his strength and speed so that he could become a five-tool player. Andrew used his disadvantage of being small and turned it into an advantage by working harder than those who were significantly larger than him.
Another Gladwellian idea relates to the difficulties of raising children in a poor family. Even if the parents work two jobs to pay for food, clothes, and shelter and are still able to read to the child at bedtime, it will be a daunting task and difficult to raise the child on how you want to raise him or her. Alternatively, raising a child in a wealthy family can be a bad thing. This is because the child will think of money as a right and not a privilege. This will cause the child to acclimate to his or her lavish lifestyle furthermore by being manipulated by the consumer world. However, there are happy mediums where you can raise your kids successfully and how much money you need to earn. Malcolm Gladwell says that an annual household income of $74,000 is the right amount of earnings to achieve satisfaction when raising kids.
The same concept applies to Andrew McCutchen situation. Andrew was so poor that his parents could barely afford baseball equipment. But luckily help came along the way. When Andrew started to play baseball at the age of 11 his parents had a hard time getting him to games and practice because of work. Luckily the neighborhood baseball team saw something special in Andrew, and made transportation arrangements for Andrew. By the time Andrew was sixteen he had played on traveling AAU teams for five years. The whole point of the team was to play other skilled teams and to gain exposure to colleges and hopefully MLB scouts. Since this team brought in players from all over the country, he didn’t have the neighborhood car pool to travel to games. He was given a red dodge pickup truck by a teammate. With this gift Andrew gained exposure to scouts throughout his high school career.
The Gladwelling idea of too much can be deteriorating and too little can be insufficient was proven with Andrews success. Andrew McCutchen may have never been humble enough to work harder than everyone else. As well as accepting help from others when needed, he may not have been the player who he is today.
Gladwells idea that disadvantages can actually be perceived as advantages is shown by Andrew McCutchen life. Andrew, a lower-class African American, had little chance at being successful; however, Andrews disadvantages and lifestyle at a younger age directly contributed to the baseball player he is today. For example, the lack of proper equipment significantly increased Andrews hand-eye coordination, making him a better baseball player. Andrews size caused him to work harder to develop into a five-tool player, and his financial situation helped Andrew to develop into a more humble individual while taking advantage of the few opportunities he was given. Therefore, these disadvantages were truly advantages.
Work Cited
Berg, Ted. “Andrew McCutchen Offers Eye-opening Perspective on Little League Scandal.” For The Win. N.p., 14 Feb. 2015. Web. 04 May 2015.
Bieler, Des. Andrew McCutchen Cuts Off His Dreadlocks, Will Sell them for Charity. Washington: WP Company LLC d/b/a The Washington Post, 2015.
Bluey, Rob B. “How One Decision by Two Parents Shaped the Life of a Baseball MVP.” The Daily Signal. N.p., 09 Sept. 2014. Web. 04 May 2015.
“E:60: Life Of Pirates Superstar Andrew McCutchen.” YouTube. YouTube, 3 Sept. 2013. Web. 05 May 2015.
Fagan, Ryan. “Meet The Prospect: Pirates OF Andrew Mccutchen.” Sporting News 233.3 (2009): 68. EBSCO MegaFILE. Web. 5 May 2015.
Gladwell, Malcolm. David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. City: Publisher, 2013. www.hrsaudi.net/Library/File/222. 13 May. 2015
Gladwell, Malcolm. “Chapter Summaries.” David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits and the Art of Battling Giants. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 May 2015.
Keidan, Bruce. “Eye on the Ball: Centerfielder McCutchen.” Eye on the Ball: Centerfielder McCutchen. Pittsburgh Quarterly, Summer 2010. Web. 11 May 2
Mednik, Max. “Notes on David and Goliath by Malcolm Gladwell.” — Max Mednik. N.p., 26 Oct. 2010. Web. 11 May 2015.
“Sample Player Profile Page.” Sample Player Profile Page. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2015.
TUTHILL, MATT. “ANDREW Mccutchen.” Joe Weider’s Muscle & Fitness 74.4 (2013): 150. EBSCO MegaFILE. Web. 5 May 2015.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Leach, a freshman from Minneapolis, Minnesota. Is highly interested in Kinesiology and seeking an internship this summer. John is an extreme hobbyist and pursues any sport that gives him an adrenalin rush. His favorite sport he learned is kiteboarding. The freedom to go anywhere as long their is wind to take him.
WHAT IV’E LEARNED
Great stories start with a question.
Great writers write with a deeper level of honesty.
Make your reader wait, for suspense.
Great writers drop readers in a moment.
Great writers write sentences never written.
Original comparison.
Great writers finish where they start.
Great writers appeal to the senses.
Name the dogs.
Good writers know what to leave out.
Use two different things next to each other.
Specifics over general.
Objective over subjective.
Good writers write in linear form.
Good writers leave readers wanting more .
Twenty-nine, twenty-eight, twenty-seven. That was the countdown to midnight of when my final research paper for College Writing 110D was due. The night before I ended up changing my paper on whom it was about. It went from Albert Pujols to Dustin Pedroia and finally Andrew McCutchen. I have found enough material on Andrew to make this paper adequate in length. The day of, I looked at the clock when I started typing and knew I was going to be cutting it close for time. Never thought it was going to be down to seconds.
