Great achievements take time and persistence
Cam Schlittler, #31 of the New York Yankees, pitches during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox in game one of their Wild Card series at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 23. Credit: Jim McIsaac
There is something undeniably joyful about watching the emergence of a young athlete like Cam Schlittler. The New York Yankees pitcher, just 25, has become the team's ace barely a year after his major league debut and pitched a gem this past week in the Yankees' playoff-opening win.
It might seem as though he came out of nowhere but there was nothing sudden about his seemingly sudden emergence. He has been working at his craft for years.
More than a feel-good sports story, Schlittler is a pop culture example of a serious truth about achievement and advancement: It takes time. There is rarely any overnight element to success, a point reiterated repeatedly in recent stories from other realms that fly a little lower on the public radar.
A couple weeks ago, for example, astronomers from the University of Oregon and the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics reported that they had discovered radio waves coming from a planet 63 light-years away, waves that probably are the result of a strong magnetic field like the one on Earth. If confirmed, that would be the first planetary magnetic field outside our solar system. That's significant because magnetic fields protect the atmosphere and conditions essential for life. This discovery, in other words, could presage finding other worlds that host life, the latest step in humanity's centuries-long quest.
That report was published a couple weeks after the announcement that a group of biologists had discovered, in North Carolina swamp water, two new species of a rare photosynthetic microorganism that could shed light on one of the most important events in Earth's evolution, the moment plant life began to bloom on our previously barren planet. That, too, takes its place on a timeline: Understanding our origins has been a painstaking process with researchers slowly but surely building on and adding to the findings of those who preceded them.
Both pieces of news came as NASA marked 5,000 Martian days since the Curiosity rover landed on Mars and started collecting data to help us better understand the red planet's environment, and as NASA engineers make an audacious attempt to extend the operating life of the Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, which were launched nearly 50 years ago. They are now about 16 billion and 13.3 billion miles from Earth, respectively, and are traveling more than 30,000 mph. And they still are transmitting data about parts of the universe through which no human creation has ever traveled.
What each of these illustrate is that the pursuit of knowledge is hard work that takes time. Results come from the synthesis of expertise and patience. The success of these endeavors is an argument about the importance of continuing to support such efforts and investing in talent, and a pointed rejoinder to the promises of so many leaders nowadays that good things are coming very soon and change will happen quickly.
That’s just not the way the world usually works, as any retiree with a decent nest egg could tell you. Time is of the essence in accumulating the resources needed to live comfortably after one stops working.
Athletes like Schlittler know this process, too. He has been pitching since he was a kid in Little League, and continued on through high school, college, summer baseball on Cape Cod, and the minor leagues, honing his skills each step of the way. He sparkled in throwing 6 ⅓ innings against the Boston Red Sox last week, but as most athletes will tell you, the learning never stops.
Human history is full of hucksters promising instant results, fast turnarounds and quick success. But our history also shows that whether you want to acquire knowledge, accumulate financial resources, or excel in sports or any artistic endeavor, persistence and patience are the way to go.
Columnist Michael Dobie is a retired member of the Newsday editorial board.
Michael Dobie is a retired member of the Newsday editorial board.
