Every game in baseball is played to determine a result: who wins and who loses. This is the goal at the heart of baseball: to win.
We can have all types of goals as athletes in addition to winning as well. We can have a goal to be a starter, to win a championship or to be named an All-American. We also can have goals that are a result of challenges or setbacks, such as returning from injury, making the team or getting more playing time.
Goals are helpful in providing us a target to aim for. They provide something to work toward. Also, when goals are clear, we know when we achieve them and when we don’t, just like when we win or lose a game. The difficult part of goals is they exist in the future. Whether it’s winning, getting to play for the team we want, or any other goal we may have, the goal isn’t achieved right now; it happens in the future.